Jumanji

Jumanji

Written and Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg

Publisher: Houghton Mufflin Company 1981 32 pages

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: Peter and Judy found a game in the park and brought it home. This is a very unusual game. Peter goes first and gets the instruction ‘Lion attack, go back two spaces,’ and a lion appears on top of the piano. The lion chases Peter upstairs and then gets his head stuck under the bed. The game also produces monkeys in the kitchen, a monsoon in the living room, and a lost jungle guide sitting on the doll house. Peter gets bitten by a tsetse fly and gets sleeping sickness. Next is a stampede of rhinos, a python on the mantle, molten lava comes from the fireplace, and hits the water from the monsoon and fills the room with steam. Judy reaches Jumanji and everything disappears. They grabbed the game and running, took it back to the park. They started a puzzle after they got home, but fell asleep before they could finish; they were waken by their parents and after changing into their pajamas and having dinner, they were working on their puzzle, they looked out the window and see Daniel and Walter Budwing. Danny has a long thin box under his arm.

Response: I had never read this book before, although I have seen the movie. I liked it very much. The illustrations in this book are incredible.