Hi, Jack! and Jack Blasts Off! By Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli.

Photo credit Rafael Lopez

Stacey is the librarian at Castleton Elementary School in upstate New York. She has been running a Mock Geisel project with first graders for the past three years. Stacey also runs a Mock Caldecott and Newbery and Sibert Smackdown. One of the highlights of her year is when she watches the ALA Youth Media Awards live in the auditorium with all her students. You can find Stacey on Twitter @staceybethr @C_ESLibrary or blogging at librarianleaps.blogspot.com.

When my kids were little, my husband and I much preferred books that we wouldn’t mind reading over and over again , the ones that could make us giggle as well as our children. No surprise, my bar for repeat read alouds was slightly lower than his. That said, as soon as I finished the early reader chapter books Hi, Jack and Jack Blasts Off! by Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli, I had the urge to circle the teenagers and husband for a storytime we would all enjoy.

I realize this post is not about enjoyment but rather how strong a book (or books in this case) would be as a Geisel 2020 contenders. Let’s just put it this way, I wish I had a new reader around who could read these books to me multiple times in a sitting.

In book one, we meet Jack, a mischievous fellow who takes a pocketbook from the Lady, gets crazy with lipstick on Rex, the dog, and the Lady’s white walls. Then, Jack and Rex do not get off to a good start in Book Two. The Lady is so mad at them and blasts them into space. Space is not all that it’s cracked up to be. When alien Zip gets mad at Jack and Rex he sends them to the “dark side of the moon” and escapes in his ship. How will Jack and Rex ever get back to Earth? And if they do, will the Lady welcome them home?

The text is perfect for new readers. Sight words dominate throughout the book. Others are easily decodable. Struggling readers will feel confident reading these books because the illustrations seamlessly pair with the text (ie, farm, gift, bright).

Photo credit Stacey Rattner

Today a group of first graders came up to the library to read the books with me. It was unanimous that they loved Jack et al. “What did you like about them?” I asked. “They were funny,” one said. “SUPER Funny!” another exclaimed. Overall, they struggled with some words, but when I asked them how hard they thought it was to read, they confidently said, “It was easy!” Unanimously they all agreed that they wanted to read the books again AND hoped more will be written in the series. I don’t know about you, but that all sounds sticker worthy to me.

I’m thrilled to have a new series to recommend to my "Elephant and Piggie" fans. Jack and Rex, if they haven’t already, are going to win them over as they giggle, gasp, sing (someone’s gotta know the Pink Floyd reference) and cheer for our new friends in the early reader shelf. Just one question—can sibling books each win a Geisel?