In the Amazon With My Pajamas On is a delightful read for younger children. That said, the author could have done a lot with the book. I was excited thinking that I could see a lot of good illustrations and renderings of the rider, but was a bit disappointed when I got to the end without much of the amazing rider being touched. the bees, the snakes and the trees.
The story is that of a boy who finds himself in the middle of the Amazon in the middle of the night. The author tries to follow a poetic style through storytelling, which is mostly relaxing but jarring in places. I bet it would have been an even better read if it was in prose. I felt that the author was forced in some places to try to keep the style by being poetic rather than prosaic.
The concept of the story was very endearing. I was confused as to why the king of the jungle is a cat, but in the end it becomes clear. The illustrations were good, but as I mentioned, they could have included more of the mighty Amazon.
I found that some of the passages were very well written, with much more meaning to them. This would be a great example:
“If only I could have wings” (I wanted these things),
“Then straight out of here I could fly.”
“I would fly out of this place with a smile on my face,
And I would fly until I landed on the bed. “
But this couldn’t be true, the boy knew
That he would have to leave instead. “
That conveys a deeper meaning than just its face value. Do not you think? A reader could also take it, since he cannot get out of a bad situation wishing he had wings, he has to get out of there. Sparkly!
The boy’s search for his bed leads him to the king of the jungle, who turns out to be a cat who is happy for himself as
Alone, it seems, to be was his dream
Because he liked it like that, just because.
Applaud! Applaud! Nice thinking, but some kids may have a hard time understanding why someone would want to be alone, just because. But parents know why, don’t we? Just because!
All in all, “In the Amazon With My Pajamas On” is a great read for your kids. There is drama in it, there is mystery in it, there is the value of friendship in it, and most of all, there is a little boy in it who wants nothing more than to be asleep in his bed at night. Not to mention, she loves to read before bed and dreams these wonderful dreams with her king cat in tow!
The author of this story is Jeff Kauffman who lives in Woostock, IL. You can reach him by email: [email protected]
The wonderful illustrations are by: Maycee Ann Reyes.
