If You Had a Jetpack by Lisl H. Detlefsen (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- If You Had a Jetpack by Lisl H. Detlefsen
Library ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55330-1 $20.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55329-5 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55331-8 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R 3-6 yrs
For this little bunny, boredom is the mother of invention, and making a jetpack is [End Page 286] the perfect way to banish ennui. There might be some unintended consequences, though, as the second-person narration enumerates. Your little brother will want one too, as will all his classmates, who will find many playground applications for this technology. The principal, impressed, will want a ride home via jetpack, and your mother, impressed that the principal is impressed, will suggest you fly down to visit Nana. One adventure leads to another until, after a flight through outer space and a rough reentry, you’re back to Earth tinkering with a flying car. Kids familiar with Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and sequels will recognize and doubtless embrace the chain reaction, and although this trajectory doesn’t exactly come full circle, the logic of the next invention is satisfying. Hunter’s digital artwork has a J. otto Seibold vibe with its closely packed cartoon images and gravity-defying compositions, which pair well with the rocketeering theme. Graduates of the Numeroff books and Loomis’ Astro Bunnies (BCCB 2/01) can swoop right on to this slightly more frenetic adventure.
