Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Jimmy's Boa & the Bungee Jump Slam Dunk

Jimmy's Boa & the Bungee Jump Slam Dunk

Trinka Hakes Noble
Illustrator:   Steven Kellogg 
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 7
Penguin, 2005   ISBN: 0142404535

Meggie and her rest of her team are supposed to be having basketball practice, but there is a problem; Miss Peachtree has taken over the gym for her dance school, and she plans on teaching the children how to tango. Her plans don’t work out as planned though because Jimmy has brought his pet boa, and the boa is not a very good tangled…er tango partner. To put things simply, all the children end up on the floor tangled up in the boa’s coils. Miss Peachtree is not best pleased. In fact, she is so annoyed that she says something that really upsets Jimmy’s boa, and the large snake takes refuge in the basketball basket.

Jimmy tries to get his boa to come down by throwing a basketball at the basket, and then a number of very extraordinary things happen. Could it be that Meggie and her team are going to be able to have their practice after all, and could it be that Jimmy’s boa might be an asset to the team?

Young readers are sure to love this deliciously ridiculous tale, which gets more and more outrageous as the story unfolds. Who knew that a dance lesson could go so horribly wrong, and yet turn out to be so wonderfully right at the same time?

Throughout the book Steven Kelloggs’ delightful illustrations perfectly compliment Trina Hakes Nobel’s entertaining story.