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A Boy and a Jaguar



by
Alan Rabinowitz
illustrated by
Catia Chien

Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Imprint
Houghton Mifflin
ISBN
9780547875071

Awards and Honors
PW’s Best Books of 2014, Picture Books; Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People - 2015, Kindergarten to Second Grade; 2015 Schneider Family Book Award Winner, Children’s; ALA Notable Books for Children 2015, Younger Readers: 2015 Green Earth Book Award Shortlist, Picture Book; 2015 Schneider Family Book Award Winner, Children’s; 2015 Ezra Jack Keats Award, New Writer Honor
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
$20.39   $16.99
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QTY
Out of stock

JLG Category

Easy Reading

In this true story, a boy who stutters except when he speaks to animals, promises that if he can find his voice, he will be their voice and keep them from harm. Q&A with Alan Rabinowitz on book’s back flap. Full-color illustrations done in acrylic and charcoal pencil.

POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None

Details

Format

Print

Page Count

32

Dewey

B

AR

3.8: points 0.5

Lexile

AD670L

Genre

Nonfic

Scholastic Reading Counts

0

JLG Release

Aug 2014

Book Genres


Topics

Alan Rabinowitz (1953- ). Wildlife conservationists. Biography. Panthera (wild cats conservation organization). Stuttering. Jaguars. Overcoming challenges.

Standard MARC Records

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Cover Art

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Praise & Reviews

Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Booklist, The Horn Book Guide, Kirkus Reviews*, Publishers Weekly*, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

Rabinowitz is a wildlife conservationist and spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America. When he was a boy, he discovered that, despite severe speech challenges, he had a gift for communicating with animals. The book charts his story through college and his travels to the jungles of Belize. Eventually, he overcomes his stutter enough to speak before the prime minister on behalf of the jaguars. Chien’s acrylic and charcoal illustrations perfectly capture the tenacious, loving spirit of the author as a boy and a lonely, intrepid young man. Chien has a flair for painting animals as well as portraying Rabinowitz’s condition with empathy. One page, drenched in a moody mauve, depicts his anguished face and hands gripping at his throat as he tries to “push words out.” With the flip of a page, readers see the boy awash in yellow sunlight, surrounded by animals, his face completely relaxed as he speaks fluently. Rabinowitz’s text is elegant, if at times slightly wordy for the target audience: “In this animal’s eyes are strength and power and sureness of purpose.” The emotional resonance of the text, urgency of the issues discussed, and breathtakingly beautiful illustrations make this book a winner. The story will help children empathize with their peers with speech issues and will be a lifeline to those with special needs or who feel like outsiders for one reason or another. Every library should own this book, a testament to the fierce beauty of jaguars and the human spirit.—Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard High School Early College, Queens, NY

Praise & Reviews

School Library Journal

Rabinowitz is a wildlife conservationist and spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America. When he was a boy, he discovered that, despite severe speech challenges, he had a gift for communicating with animals. The book charts his story through college and his travels to the jungles of Belize. Eventually, he overcomes his stutter enough to speak before the prime minister on behalf of the jaguars. Chien’s acrylic and charcoal illustrations perfectly capture the tenacious, loving spirit of the author as a boy and a lonely, intrepid young man. Chien has a flair for painting animals as well as portraying Rabinowitz’s condition with empathy. One page, drenched in a moody mauve, depicts his anguished face and hands gripping at his throat as he tries to “push words out.” With the flip of a page, readers see the boy awash in yellow sunlight, surrounded by animals, his face completely relaxed as he speaks fluently. Rabinowitz’s text is elegant, if at times slightly wordy for the target audience: “In this animal’s eyes are strength and power and sureness of purpose.” The emotional resonance of the text, urgency of the issues discussed, and breathtakingly beautiful illustrations make this book a winner. The story will help children empathize with their peers with speech issues and will be a lifeline to those with special needs or who feel like outsiders for one reason or another. Every library should own this book, a testament to the fierce beauty of jaguars and the human spirit.—Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard High School Early College, Queens, NY

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