[LM_NET] Jellaby Review - graphic novel

[Christine Rayl <cjrayl@YAHOO.COM>]

Soo, Kean. 2008. Jellaby. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Grades 3 – 7

This delightful graphic novel is geared towards young girls and is a wonderful 
contrast to the ever-popular Bones series that boys enjoy. The heroine in this 
novel is a young girl who finds a rather unusual creature one night, a creature 
that looks like a large big-headed purple dinosaur or lizard that is not 
threatening in the least. Rather the creature is drawn with rounded lines, big blue 
child-like eyes, and has the aura of a young, gentle child. Portia, the young girl, 
befriends this simple creature who seems to be lost and thus her adventures begin.

There are many themes in Jellaby, one being the theme of bullying. At first Portia 
witnesses a situation where a young boy, Jason, is being harassed by older boys. 
After a moment of internal struggles with whether she should intercede or not, 
Portia elects to walk away. However, once Jellaby enters the storyline it ends up 
teaching her that one stands up for what is right and that one does not walk away 
from a bullying situation. Rather, something needs to be done and so Portia steps 
in and helps Jason. In doing so, Portia befriends Jason and between the two of 
them, they set off to try and return Jellaby to its parents.

The home situations of both Portia and Jason are realistic and will certainly 
mirror many lives of children their young age. Portia’s mother is a single parent 
working late into the night while Jason is always alone, parents neither home nor 
coming to the school when he and Portia are in trouble. These situations are hinted 
at with scenes of Jason sitting by himself eating noodles, or Portia’s mom who 
comes home from work so late at night that Portia has put herself to bed. The 
opportunities for inferences are rampant in this novel and certainly enable the 
reader to make connections with the text, a strong affirmation for the inclusion of 
graphic novels in a library or classroom setting. 

The artwork in Jellaby is enjoyable and will give rise to grins and smiles as the 
children have rather small bodies in comparison to their heads. The bullies have 
not only a threatening appearance; they also have a more adult look to their heads 
and faces in contrast to the more child-like features of Portia and Jason. Short, 
stubby legs are the norm for all the characters except for the few adults in this 
story, giving a strong indication of the difference between the child’s world and 
the adults. Of note, the colors used range in mostly shades of purple, black and 
white with brief, small touches of red, yellow, or blue. This reader could not help 
but think of grape jelly when looking at the title and the colors of the novel but 
overall, this is a delightful novel, well constructed, yet ending with a “To be 
continued…” that will have your patrons begging for the next book in the 
series. This is certainly a novel that must be included in any
 library or classroom collection and will give rise to great discussions about 
bullying and being alone.


Christine Rayl, Librarian
Bowie Elementary School
Grand Prairie ISD, TX

cjrayl@yahoo.com
Book reviews: http://childrens-bookspot.blogspot.com/



      

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