"This comic gem of a picture book demonstrates Spiegelman's ability to conquer his audience, no matter its constituents...This book choreographs jokes with an exquisite understanding of climax and denouement. As with the other books from this publisher, the design is sophisticated, making elegant use of panels, and easy-to-handle small format and subtle, low-contrast hues. That the vocabulary and the matchup of dialogue balloons to the action are geared to beginning readers is icing on the cake."— Publishers Weekly Jack just got a new toy, and it’s full of surprises. Each time the box pops open, there’s a new and bigger surprise. Is it a silly toy, a scary toy... or something else entirely? Grade 1–2—A mischievous, easy-to-read comic story similar in tone and audience to The Cat in the Hat . Jack receives a jack-in-the-box as a present. Its manically entertaining occupant, Zack, keeps its owner guessing. Fortunately, when the fun gets out of hand, Zack and his friend Mack save Jack by wanting to trade the lamp they broke for a brand-new one, produced from inside the box. While the story is wacky, the cartoon artwork will appeal to a broad range of lower-level readers. True to its comic-strip roots, without the clutter that some children have a hard time reading, this title is a surefire hit.— Sarah Provence, Churchill Road Elementary School, McLean, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Comic visionary and living legend Spiegelman has ignored the effects of Early Success Syndrome and plowed right ahead, finding different methods of bringing sequential art to new audiences in interesting ways. Attempting to match the extraordinary achievement of Maus (1986) would be difficult, to say the least, so he and wife Francoise Mouly have developed the Toon imprint for very young readers. Balancing the aesthetic of comics with the familiarity of picture books, and even harkening back to Dr. Seuss, Spiegelman has produced a polished and fun story following a young bunny’s struggle with his new jack-in-the-box, which proves to be hyperactive and rather argumentative. With plenty of word repetition and age-appropriate humor to keep pre- and early readers engaged and curious, Spiegelman has taken sequential-art basics and fitted them to his new audience. Like all the Toon books released so far (Benny and Penny in Just Pretend, Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons, and Otto’s Orange Day, all 2008), Jack and the Box is beautifully conceived and executed. Grades K-1. --Jesse Karp Publishers Weekly 's Best Children's Picture Books of 2008 Winner of the White Raven Award 2009 Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Book of the Year "Comic visionary and living legend Spiegelman has ignored the effects of Early Success Syndrome and plowed right ahead, finding different methods of bringing sequential art to new audiences in interesting ways...Balancing the aesthetic of comics with the familiarity of picture books, and even harkening back to Dr. Seuss, Spiegelman has produced a polished and fun story following a young bunny's struggle with his new jack-in-the-box, which proves to be hyperactive and rather argumentative. With plenty of word repetition and age-appropriate humor to keep pre- and early readers engaged and curious, Spiegelman has taken sequential-art basics and fitted them to his new audience. Like all the TOON books released so far...Jack and the Box is beautifully conceived and executed."— Booklist "Framed in one or two sequential panels per page done in flat colors, simple shapes and with an all-dialogue text in balloons, the episode looks like a comic for brand new readers. There's a lot going on beneath the surface, though, and this may have some therapeutic value for older children too."— Kirkus Reviews "This comic gem of a picture book demonstrates Spiegelman's ability to conquer his audience, no matter its constituents...This book choreographs jokes with an exquisite understanding of climax and denouement. As with the other books from this publisher, the design is sophisticated, making elegant use of panels, and easy-to-handle small format and subtle, low-contrast hues. That the vocabulary and the matchup of dialogue balloons to the action are geared to beginning readers is icing on the cake."— Publishers Weekly "A mischievous, easy-to-read comic story similar in tone and audience to The Cat in the Hat ...While the story is wacky, the cartoon artwork will appeal to a broad range of lower-level readers. True to its comic-strip roots, without the clutter that some children have a hard time reading, this title is a surefire hit."— School Library Journal "In this hybrid of easy reader (repetition of word and phonemes, short sentences, and an emphasis on one-syllable words), comic (storytelling through dialogue and sound effects, emphasis created by typeface, division of the page into panels), and well-made picture book (creamy pa