Like another little boy, Charlie Brown, and his troubles with the infamous Kite-Eating Tree, Floyd, the stick-legged protagonist in Oliver Jeffers’s latest book, Stuck, is facing a particularly frustrating predicament: It involves a stubborn tree that refuses to give up the boy’s kite. No matter how hard Floyd tries pulling and swinging the string, his kite stays stuck. So what does he do? The only thing a boy in this situation can do, of course: He throws “his favorite shoe to knock the kite loose.” And wouldn’t you know it? The shoe gets stuck too! So Floyd throws the other pair into the branches, and that gets stuck as well. One thing leads to another in this absurd tale and we see the boy throw an unsuspecting cat, a bucket of paint, a curious whale, the house across the street, a fire truck passing by, the firemen in the truck, and a whole lot more up into the tree. Wink-wink: Even practical items like the ladder and saw get thrown up there!
Those familiar with Jeffers’s previous picture books (like How to Catch a Star and The Incredible Book-Eating Boy) won’t be disappointed in the fanciful, quirky story line of his newest title. Hand-lettered text and illustrations incorporating artful scribbles and blotches add to the carefree, whimsical sensibility of the tale. In keeping with the sly humor evident throughout, the ending comes with an amusing twist: Finally, there are so many things stuck in the branches, “there was no more room left in the tree” and the kite comes fluttering down.” Floyd is so excited that he runs off to play with his kite and forgets about the odd assortment of creatures and objects trapped in the tree. The final image of the tree at night, with all kinds of nonsensical things (including a kitchen sink!) sticking out of it is hilarious, and young readers will delight in the ridiculous nature of it all.
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Are you and your children familiar with Oliver Jeffers’s picture books? Which is your favorite?
