What+James+Likes+Best

Book review by Christina Jaramillo


 * Bibliographical Data **

 //Book name: What James Likes Best//

 //Author: Amy Schwartz//

//Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003//

//Language: English//

//Pages: 30//

//Age range: 2-5//

//ISBN: 0-689-84059-4//

 **Author Bibliography:**

Amy Schwartz lives in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, she loved to draw and writer. She graduated as a drawing major from Oakland, CA. After graduation a friend encouraged her to try illustrating children’s books, so she took a class. It wasn’t until some editors suggested she try writing and illustrating that she published her first two books, //Bea and Mr.// Jones, and //Begin at the// Beginning. She has illustrated about 40 children’s books, and written over half of those 40.

 **Book Summary:**

 //A little boy named James goes with his parents on a bus to visit twins, in a taxi to visit Grandma, in a car to see the county fair, and then walks next door with his mother for a playdate. All the while the reader wonders, “What did James like best”.//

 **Review:**

 //What James Likes Best// was a fun interesting read for me because I almost felt like a detective. At first, I thought the story would tell me what James liked best, and was surprised when it didn’t. This caused me to really think about what he liked best, and if any clues were given in the pictures. What did James like best? Did it matter what he liked best? By the end of the story I reached the conclusion that perhaps the question wasn’t actually about James, but intended to allow readers to try and put themselves in James’s shoes. Since children have an egocentric mindset, they are likely to state what they liked best, as what James liked best. I’m sure it would be interesting to read the book with a class and hear the many different answers.

 **Analysis of a Literary Element:**

The illustrations really drive the story of //What James Likes Best//. For every sentence on the page, there is a picture to accurately reflect it. Not once is it left to the reader’s imagination what James is doing. This is important for the target audience of this book (ages 2-5) and allows children to draw connections. What I especially liked, was how the illustrations would focus on one particular thing when try to figure out what James likes best from his trip. For example, when a donut hole is mentioned as something he might have liked best, a picture of powdered donut holes is right next to that text. What this did for me, and I believe would do for young children as well, is it caused me to honestly think about what was being considered. Were the donut holes his favorite? I found myself looking back at the picture with the full scene for clues. This type of illustration could also help children’s argumentative abilities. Simply by having children give a reason for why they think something was James’s favorite, would give them experience in proving their ideas.

[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Related Links: **