The New Jumper (The Hueys)

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Er zijn meerdere prentenboeken met eenzelfde thema waarvan één ook de kleur oranje als hoofdkleur heeft, maar deze Hugo is door het minimalistisch gebruik van kleur en teken, de fijne vertaling, de duidelijke (voorlees)letter, tot aan de schutbladen toe, een absolute aanrader in het onderwerp geloven in jezelf met durf en zelfvertrouwen. Look at the picture of the speaker in the illustrations. Can you try to draw sketches of 3D shapes? Think of different words that can be used to describe Rupert’s new jumper. Can you describe the colours / patterns / texture? The Hueys don’t have any feet. Can you try to draw your own characters with or without feet? Which do you prefer? Why? Say hello to the Hueys, a bunch of creatures who look the same, do everything the same, and well, I think you get the gist. :P

So I spotted this book at the library (one of them), and I just had to read it. I am a big fan of Oliver Jeffers's work and so I just couldn't resist this one. And boy, it was just too fun to read. Challenge your friends to do exactly the same task as you (e.g. draw a picture of a dog, write a story about an elephant). Are your pictures / stories exactly the same? Why not? Try anwering Mrs Plummer's inference questions in the To Print section. A grown up could ask the questions - you do not have to print them.Precies zoals in de mensenmaatschappij: de massa is niet direct enthousiast. Je valt buiten de groep als je anders bent of doet. Stiekem is er toch eentje die iets anders eigenlijk best leuk vindt. En als er één Hugo over de spreekwoordelijke dam is, volgen er meer totdat iedereen wéér hetzelfde is. En dan? Weer iets nieuws? En is dat nieuwe nog vernieuwder? I think I'd have liked this book better if Rupert or another of the Hueys had realized that by all of them changing in exactly the same ways, they ended up being exactly the same again. And thus the chaos starts as our other Hueys are not amused by their friend's unique ways, but then something happens... and well you will just have to read this book and see for yourself. I am a bit on the fence on if I like it or not. On the one hand it was funny, because here we have the typical Huey behaviour popping up again, but on the other hand I wished that they just could do something else for once. They just seemed like sheep with what they did here. And it did feel like a nudge to how this kind of thing works in real life. Look at the shadows in the illustrations. How are shadows made? Go outside and see if you can make some shadow shapes.

What message is being sent to kids in this story? Am I being overly critical and cynical when I say that I think it's telling kids that no one is truly unique and it's pointless to try to be different/yourself? Or perhaps I should lighten up and simply encourage kids to be like Rupert and think outside the box; don't be like society and copy every passing fad.

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And that's where I'm at. Wondering what this book is supposed to be about and thinking it's just pretty funny, and that's all I can lay my finger on. Maybe I need someone less literal than me to explain it to me.... :) I'm sort of ambivalent about it, but the fact that I'm thinking about it enough to realize my ambivalence - and the reasons for it - makes me give this book an "I liked it" rating of three stars. Thought #8: This is like when you see a group of kids at the mall who have bright blue mohawks and wear it that way because they want to be different but there are, like, 7 of them that look exactly the same as they try to be different.

Why are the other Hueys horrified when Rupert does something different? How do people sometimes feel about new / different things? Why is this? All of the Hueys looked alike. They also all acted and dressed alike. Until, that is, the day that Rupert knitted a bright new orange sweater and made himself stand out. Some of the other Hueys weren't sure that they approved - didn't Rupert know that they were all supposed to be the same?!? - but his friend Gillespie decided he too wanted a sweater. So began a trend, with all the Hueys jumping on the bandwagon. Soon Rupert had to find a new way to stand out... Draw a map showing the world in which the Hueys live. What might their houses / streets / towns look like? Eén Hugootje, Rupert, breit een nieuwe trui in een opvallende kleur. Hoe zouden de anderen hierop reageren?

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I am trying to figure out what I think about this one. Here's sort of the thought process I went through reading it.... The ending was a fun surprise and I was just shaking my head and saying something along the lines of: "Oh Rupert, no just no." :P