CHILDREN'S LITERATURE,  Picbook Review

The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers Reminds Us Our Responsibility for the Environment

When I first read this book, one thing came to mind: this book definitely will delight not only children (my son loves it) but adults as well – maybe even more so for adults who will understand the clues laid out behind it.

In The Great Paper Capers, Oliver Jeffers teaches us of our responsibility to environment and to respect the nature; we can have fun and all with tree products but we must always make sure to plant them back.

 

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Credit: http://www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books/the-great-paper-caper

The Great Paper Caper tells a story about branches that disappeared without warning from trees in the forest. The residents of the forest blamed each other but everyone of them had their own solid alibis. So they conducted an investigation; sealed the area, took photographs, made notes and examined every possible clue. But still, they could not find the culprit until one resident came forward with an evident. They analysed the evident and finally found the culprit; a bear. The bear admitted his wrong-doing and said that he was up to the paper air plane competition and had ran out of papers. The judge (a reindeer, by the way) sentenced him to make it up by replacing all the tree that he had cut down. The bear started to plant trees back. At the same time, with the help of the forest residents, the bear managed to enter the paper air plane competition.

My verdict: Although some think that this book was a let down, I certainly have my own illustrator/writer/reader point-of-view. I thought to myself, “How can I not cleverly think of a picture book like that?”

The Great Paper Caper is genuinely witty and charming!

Oliver Jeffers is an award-winning artist, illustrator and writer from Australia, who is now based in Brooklyn, US. Oliver Jeffers is widely known for his picture books for children, published by HarperCollins UK and Penguin US; as below:

  • How to Catch a Star (2004)
  • Lost and Found (2005)
  • The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006)
  • The Way Back Home (2007)
  • The Great Paper Caper (2008)
  • The Heart and the Bottle (2010)
  • Up and Down (2010)
  • Stuck (2011)
  • The Hueys in The New Jumper” (2012)
  • This Moose Belongs to Me (2012)
  • The Hueys in It Wasn’t Me” (2013)
  • None the Number” (2014)

Jeffers has different styles of illustrating and drawing. His earlier picture books were entirely watercolour, and with the third book, the Incredible Book Eating Boy, he began experimenting with collage. The latest book was created making hundreds of drawings and scribbles on paper and compositing them together in Photoshop. And in The Great Paper Caper, he used the latest style.

The book was produced using FSC product group from well-managed forests and other controlled sources.

The Great Paper Capers
Paperback, 40 pages
Published April 1st 2009 by HarperCollins Children’s Books (first published September 4th 2008)
ISBN 0007182333 (ISBN13: 9780007182336)
Language: English
Suitable age: 8+

More info about Oliver here: http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/cr-100742/oliver-jeffers

 

 

16 Comments

  • imaisha

    I don’t see why this book can be a let down. Although I think it’s a bit ironic since the story is about saving the trees but making the book itself has to sacrifice a lot of trees, at least the book use FSC product 😉

  • jaja

    I’m with Imaisha… at least the books were made my using FSC product….. many people keep talking about save ‘this’ and save ‘that’ but they don’t realize that they actually killing another ‘this’ and ‘that’

  • glory jane

    well, i do not think produce a book is a waste… hihi… the book will be well love by the readers, especially if we share with lots of people….
    i still like to read a paper book. i did not enjoy reading tru kindle or laptop. it strain my eye…
    maybe i’m an old fashion woman… hahaha

  • glory jane

    And i just find an excuse to justify my love for paper book…
    Last year i buy 2 e-book, but i end up printing all of them just because i like it more on paper. then just because i print it by cheep ink, and then ring binding- it easily stain and thorn when i reread it couple of times. After couples of month i buy back the book in the paper form. hm, that what i call a waste.

  • imaisha

    hehe.. so funny la jane.. I never like e-book and I love paper book. Sometimes, I buy more than I read 😛 still a lot of books with plastic cover on the rack >.<

  • imaisha

    so, cepat2 la ke kedai buku terdekat cikcloudy 😉 beli semua buku Oliver Jeffers ni ya.. nanti saya nak tumpang baca.. hehe..

  • imaisha

    tula.. terfikir jugak nak jual daripada berhabuk dlm almari.. tapi malas nak beriklan bagai.. novel ada dua ke tiga still balut plastik.. tak ingat tajuk tapi publisher jemari seni.. kalau betul nak beli, blh je bagi harga kasih sayang 😉