Title: Peanut Butter and Jelly
Author/Illustrator: Ben Clanton
Age Group: 3-6
Synopsis: Narwhal and Jelly team up again, this time with a peanut buttery flair.
The Lowdown:
If there’s one American stereotype that my family lives up to it’s our love of peanut butter. It goes on almost everything in our house and when Bug was not even one he would flail his arms in excitement anytime peanut butter was mentioned. We had to ration it out to him. As if to compliment this all perfectly, our newest family member is nicknamed Peanut. Or Peanut Butter according to Bug. So when Narwhal goes a little overboard with his peanut butter love in this book, he has no greater sympathizers than us.
True to Narwhal form, the book is structured in chapter form. Within five chapters Narwhal goes from unwilling to eat anything besides waffles, to consuming a entire ocean worth of peanut butter. Throughout the experience he goes a bit haywire in the sweetest and funniest way. And of course his ever present optimism and good humor is infectious to his ever-present pal, Jelly. Jelly is the perfect balance behind encouraging Narwhal and reigning him in. And in that Jelly is often a reflection on kids themselves. He can feel insecure or skeptical but is always encouraged by Narwhal to branch out and retain a more optimistic view on life.
This juxtaposition stops the book from being so silly it’s annoying and maintains a beautiful balance between delivering morals and having fun. The best part is that the jokes are funny without bringing in any of the bathroom humor that Bug finds so appealing right now. It had him cracking up and consuming (if it was at all possible) more peanut butter.
The way that the book is laid out also makes it ideal for emerging readers. By using the simple character designs, Clanton has provided the ideal setting for young readers to indulge in the pictures without distracting from the text. It also is a great introductory text for graphic novels, which I feel are another fabulous way to encourage reluctant readers.
This is Bug’s favorite Narwhal book so far and the fact that it was given to him as a big brother present in anticipation of Peanut’s birth just made it so much more fabulous. Bug squeals with laughter when he refers to himself as Jelly (although a love of Black Raspberry – Rhubarb Jam has blown jelly out of the water) and Peanut as Peanut Butter or Narwhal. And I always am pleased when this book gets chosen for one of our daily reading sessions. Good morals, interesting text, cute illustrations, informative facts, and amusing to boot? Yes, please!
Story Tips:
- Make Peanut Butter cookies afterwords.
I need more!
Check out more about Narwhal and Ben Clanton here.
Add to my library:
Peanut Butter and Jelly (A Narwhal and Jelly Book 3)
