Jack Blasts Off

August 1, 2019
Grades K-1 Bad bunny Jack?originally a monkey but recast shortly before his first outing's publication?really lowers the behavioral bar in this second level-one book. For destroying books, Jack and Rex the dog both earn one-way tickets into space . . . where they crash into the saucer of three-eyed, four-armed Zip. Zip has just planted a proprietary flag, which Jack feeds to Rex so he can plant one of his own. Jack licks his snacks instead of sharing them, while Rex eats a tool that Zip needs to fix the saucer. But when the duo is menaced by a big red moon monster, Zip beams them aboard and takes them back to Earth. Does Earth want them? Zip says, ?Zoom beep deep kaboom.' That means ?Take him back or I'll zap the whole Earth.' Oh well, OK then. Emergent readers with a taste for transgressive high jinks, at least, will welcome Jack back. Pizzoli's very simple, brightly colored cartoon figures (capped by a drawing lesson at the end) play nicely with Barnett's pithy narrative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)