The Crazy Cousins

Hey Jack! #1

by Sally Rippin

Jack’s in the mood for mooching around, not playing with his crazy cousins! But will his bad mood spoil the whole day?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Kids

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages.
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Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.

Reviews

[Cruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author: Sally Rippin
Illustrator: Stephanie Spartels
First Published: 2012

An early readers with just two little chapters, nice big words, and enough pictures to stop it from being overwhelming.



The little morals of acceptance and making the best of the situation, not letting a bad mood spoil everything and not always getting your own way was addressed in a simple but not patronising way. A good book for helping to develop confidence or for expanding the attention span of the preschooler.

Age:
Read aloud - 4+
Read yourself - 5+

References:
Sally Rippin website: http://www.sallyrippin.com/sallyrippi...

-CR-

[Jillianne Arsenault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and engaging for early chapter good readers.

[Kourtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was in the middle

[Leto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack was in a "moochie mood" because his cousins were coming. He said they were the worst cousins to have. Once they arrived and he was sitting on the front steps, he was talking with his three cousins. They all said the nicest thing to him by saying he was the best cousin ever. He got to have fun with them, not being annoyed.

I liked this book because of the part where they were smashing and rebuilding the LEGO castle together.

[reviewed by an 8 year old, typed by his mama]

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect size and content for a young reader beginning to read chapter books. I enjoyed my 6 year old reading this one aloud to me.

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today Jack is in a moochy mood, he feels like being quiet, he wants to stay inside and wear his pyjamas all day. He's definitely not in the mood for his cousins to visit. Jack has the noisiest, messiest cousins in the whole world.

'Hey Jack,' his dad knocks on the door. 'Don't forget your cousins are coming.'

Jack frowns. 'Do they have to come? Last time David broke my remote-control car. Stella drew on my maths book and Ivy picked all mum's flowers.'

Jack's dad smiles. 'They're your cousins, Jack. They're here to see you.' He's still in a bad mood when he goes to meet his cousins.

David asked if they could play soccer. Jack said no. Ivy asked if they could make a potion and Jack grumpily replied no. They all sat down on the step looking miserable.

'You're the one with all the good ideas,' David says.

'Yeah, Jack!' Ivy says. 'You're the bestest, funniest cousin in the whole wide world.'

Jack looks up at his cousins in surprise. Jack gets a warm honey feeling in his tummy. Now he feels bad for acting so grumpy.

'Well, I guess you could come and look at my Lego castle. It's got a tower a moat and a drawbridge.' Jack smiles as the four of them run upstairs into his bedroom.
They all play with the Lego, David being the Knight, Stella being the Princess and Ivy being the Dragon. They crash into the castle and break it and rebuild it all afternoon. It's the best afternoon ever.

[Cassie Cappelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to AR, this book is level 2.7 (second half of 2nd grade year). It has 3 chapters with large print, about 2-3 sentences per page. I have a lot of respect for the Hey Jack! series because I have a WILD child. He is reading at a good reading level, but he is not a bookworm. A lot of beginner chapter books around the second grade level are either graphic novels (Dog Man, Bad Guys, etc.) or contain a lot more chapters and words (TreeHouse Magic). I want him to read a little more than a graphic novel, but he can't sit still long enough to get through a chapter from books like TreeHouse Magic. Hey Jack! is honestly perfect for him! He is able to easily read a chapter at a time and he enjoys the stories!

In this particular Hey Jack! story, Jack is in a "moochy" mood, which is kind of a weird word in my opinion. But it basically means he is feeling antisocial. Despite this, his cousins are scheduled to come over and play. This does not excite him because, aside from feeling antisocial, his cousins tend to get into his things and mess them up. After they arrive, he gets frustrated with them, but ends up having fun after the little girl says he is the "bestest, funnest" cousin. This story teaches a lot of lessons about family and emotions. I would recommend it for early readers and wild children like mine :)

[Katlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early Juvenile Fiction Chapter Book -(Easy Reader Level 3)

All Jack wants to do is play with his Legos and play by himself. When his dad reminds him that his cousins are coming over, Jack is not thrilled. He thinks his cousins are messy and noisy. When they arrive, they appear to be everything Jack thinks they are... loud and messy. At first, when they try to play with Jack, he is not very nice or in the mood to play. As the day goes on, however, he begins to feel bad about how he's treating them. He shows him his castle built from Legos and they have fun building and destroying it. This a good look into the dynamic relationship that cousins can have. Short chapters, large print, and some illustrations make this book a good introductory chapter book for young readers who are just starting to venture into the longer books. This is the first book in a series of fifteen and each book is roughly 44 pages long, so it is not too overwhelming for the more timid young readers.

[Stephanie P (Because My Mother Read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one to my almost 4 year old son and it was the perfect level for him. There were lots of pictures, not too many words per page, and a plot he could follow. We easily read it in one sitting because it's a really quick read. Even though it has chapters it is closer to the length of a longer picture book to read. I liked the message about learning to play with others and changing preconceived notions about others. He liked the story and wants to read the rest of the series so we are planning to go through it together and then when we he is old enough to read on his own it will be on our list for him to revisit.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous new series for beginner readers who are on the way to coping with chapter books, but needing something bite-sized before they get there. Jack's stories have a bit of grit in them, confronting the real world of young kids' roller-coaster emotions, best friends and family situations. All done with a light but insightful touch, fantastic illustrations by Stephanie Spartels, and wrapping up a complete, satisfying story in just over 1,000 words. These books can be enjoyed by, and build confidence in, younger primary school kids.

[Nour Al-Sarraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some stories from (Hey Jack!) series with my 6 years old son, and he liked them that they are about things and situations that concern children of his age, so for now we will continue to read it..

[Paula Greenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for those who have cousins. It's interesting how Jack thinks one thing and finds out his cousins think another way.

[Taylor Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading and loved it. Glad it has other books to go with it.

[Carter Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hey Jack! books are great reads. They are fast and great confidence building books for k-3 readers, and they are excellent first chapter books for young readers. We have them all, and we started our children's book club with this book in order to build confidence with narration.

The book itself, Crazy Cousins, is excellent at exposing children to different types of moods, and offers teachable moments regarding proper conduct when visiting friends or family members.

For example, the first page talks about how Jack is feeling like he is in a "Moochy" mood- which means he wants to stay in pajamas, stay inside, and play alone that day. Helping children think about their feelings, and give names to those feelings, is a great way of allowing kids to have the keys to their own minds.

In the book, Jack is concerned that his cousins are visiting, because they tend to be a bit crazy and wild. The children in the group discussed ways that they could make their friends feel more comfortable, and whether or not it was appropriate to do some of the things the cousins were doing.

I love the Hey Jack books!

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One morning, Jack was wondering what he should do that morning. He built a castle out of LEGOs. He built a few little dragons. He remembered that his cousins were coming over that afternoon. He was so nervous he went into his bed and covered his mouth. He didn't know what to do when the cousins came but then he said to them, "Do you want to see my LEGO castle?" Then one of his cousins accidentally broke part of the castle. Jack broke another piece of the castle. All of them kept building castles and crashing into them with their little dragons.

I liked this story because they were making castles and destroying them over and over again and I love LEGOs too!

[reviewed by a 7 year old, typed by his mama]

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moochy mood! Here's one I've never heard put this way, but I've felt it before. In fact, that's my mood right now. I want to lay in bed and read books all day instead of getting up and doing things. I would hate it if suddenly I had a bunch of noisy rowdy people show up when I'm in this sort of mood. Jack has to deal with his cousins, three kids that seem to be only troublemakers. How he comes to see his cousins as potential friends is a great story, especially for those kids who feel like their relatives are thrust upon them and don't always appreciate it.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and loved reading this book with my kids. This book was the perfect level for my second grader to read to me. I loved at the beginning it talks about a feeling that Jack is feeling. But not your normal mad or sad feeling but a more in depth vocabulary word. It talks about what the feeling feels and does to your body. I loved this book and my kids get upset when we stop reading one chapter. This book has three chapters so it's a quick read but it's a great story to read to kids. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

1 - Sally Rippin, “Hey Jack! The Crazy Cousins” (Richmond, Victoria, Aust: Hardie Grant Egmont, 2012).
Dealing with crazy cousins!
“All afternoon Jack and his cousins build castles out of Lego, then crash them down again. It's the best afternoon ever!” (p43)

[Carla]

Hey jack books are for girls and boys

[Aslinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son kept saying he hates chapter books and they are too hard. We read this one and he read another one on his own. Now he says he wants all of them.