Jimmy’s Dad arrives home and announces that ‘It’s a jungle out there!’. Jimmy replies that there’s a jungle inside as well. As the lounge transforms into a jungle, he demonstrates, showing his father the animals that live here. Each of his family members respond to the animals, until Jimmy and all his alter-egos are too tired to do anything but sleep. In the morning when Jimmy wakes, the jungle is gone from inside. But Dad assures him it’s just moved back outside where he has to go to work. It’s a Jungle in Hereis a mid-size hardback book, illustrated in a mix of child-like sketches and collage all set on pastel pages.
It might be a jungle inside Jimmy’s house, but it’s a loving and gentle one. The antics of the main character, Jimmy, will be familiar to anyone who has or has had a younger sibling with imagination. Jimmy is able to transform his environment and himself effortlessly from one animal to another. His family support his role-playing but gently keep him from exceeding his boundaries. Jimmy is playing, but his playing helps his father recover from the wildness of his work jungle. The illustrations are evocative and humourous, and child-like but definitely not childish. Recommended for pre-school-aged children.
It’s a Jungle in Here, Steve Wide ill Michelle Macintosh
Windy Hollow Books 2009
ISBN: 9781921136429
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com
This title can be purchased online from Fishpond.