| "Leonard
slashes his way into the Zabajaba Jungle to find an amazing world of
exotic insects, birds and plants . . . Steig's picture book transcends
its adventure-story roots and reveals epic elements . . . every page is
a feast; bounteous tropical flora and imaginative creatures abound
in this lush primeval jungle . . . A brilliant prize." --*Starred
Review/Publishers Weekly
Awards
Publishers Weekly Notable Children's Book of the Year
Reviews
Kirkus Reviews - *starred
review
A boy has a dreamlike adventure in a mellow, fantastic, inimitably
Steig-imagined jungle.
Unlike Sendak's Max, Leonard
doesn't know why he finds himself slashing his way into the
previously unpenetrated vegetation; he just knows he must push on.
There are "squawking birds and raucous insects" as well as
hungry plants. He explores a petrified monster, from gullet to
"the great cloaca." Napping in a hammock, he wakes to find
a heap of snakes beneath him, and "wishes he was home in
bed." But not yet -- there are still to be encounters with a shy
bird named Flora; a giant flower and a group of mandrills, who take
him to court for drinking the nectar of the Jabazaba Flower (he
escapes by setting off a fireworks display) before he frees his
parents from a glass bottle and shows them the way home.
As always, Steig's pictures
are comic, full of lovely nuances of color and design, and lead the
eye pleasantly from page to page. This may be Kafka's benign flip
side, but why not just relax and enjoy it?
|
The
Zabajaba Jungle