Jessica's Box

Jessica's Box

Written and illustrated by Peter Carnavas

Kane Miller, 2015, Ages 6-8

This fiction book is a story about a young girl, Jessica, who is about to start at a new school. She is nervous about fitting in and making new friends. So Jessica has this idea that she should bring a box to her new school to intrigue her new classmates. First day she brings a stuffed bear, the next day cupcakes, another day is her dog. All these attempts seem to fail with her classmates. Jessica is frustrated and lonely so she puts her head in the empty box. The next thing you know a little boy sees Jessica with her head in the box and the little boy wants to play hide and seek with her. Jessica finally found her first friend. 

The author is writing most of the book in dialogue between Jessica and her family or her classmates. The book is also written in third person language and tells what Jessica's feelings and emotions are. The author uses words that can be understood by the audience. 

The illustrations in the book appear to be watercolor with black for the outlining and to show more depth and detail. The pictures throughout the book show what is happening with the text and show Jessica's feelings. 

This book was a very simple book but with a powerful message. I believe it would be good in first or second grade classrooms when a new student is about to be introduced. This book would be helpful for this situation because you get to see the perspective of the new student. It also shows what Jessica's classmates did wrong in this situation. 

Reviewed by AK