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JAKUBS OTTER.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 30, 2024
This had been sitting on my TBR pile for a while, but I’m really glad I left it for the post-Christmas calm. A moving, gentle, eloquent story that evokes a beautiful, simple landscape and touches gently on several important issues. Recommended for both children and adults.
July 20, 2025
what a beautiful book. so poignant, moving and captivating. I love the addition of little poems at the end of each chapter, it really adds something to the book.
December 18, 2024
Absolutely fabulous story! It's like punting along a quiet stream where your senses are heightened to your surroundings. You get drawn in to such a beautiful and gentle story of hope, friendship, nature, love and a growing sense of self awareness and value. Storytelling at its best. Loved it.
If you are a teacher, this would make a great class book, I would definitely use it as a class read to activity as the chapters are short and lots to talk about. The use of prose and poetry is absolutely wonderful, absorbing and engaging.
If you are a teacher, this would make a great class book, I would definitely use it as a class read to activity as the chapters are short and lots to talk about. The use of prose and poetry is absolutely wonderful, absorbing and engaging.
January 4, 2025
4.5 stars
Review to follow.
Review to follow.
January 10, 2025
This book was such a quiet delight in so many ways. Jakub is a child carer, devoted to his mum with MS and diligently ensuring that he cooks, cleans, helps her to bed and then does his homework. He doesn’t allow himself to think that he might be missing out, but his mother knows he needs a break, and arranges for Jakub to go on holiday to rural Italy with family friends who have a house there. Jakub finds it hard to relax, is quite fearful of the unfamiliar, and is certain that he and the Koniks’ daughter Marta will not be friends.
Gradually, story-loving and free-spirited Marta breaks through Jakub’s reserve, but it’s elderly woodsman Signor Mancini, who teaches him the ways of the forest and entrusts him with the care of an injured and pregnant otter, that Jakub really looks up to. We see Jakub glow again with the responsibility that forms so much of his character, but also learn that no matter how much he cares, he can’t control every outcome.
Rumble is best known for her poetry for children, and earlier verse novel ‘Little Light’, but there are many poems in ‘Jakub’s Otter’ too, written by Marta in her diary, a clever way of giving another character’s POV in a first-person narration, as well as a gentle introduction to young readers of the possibility that poetry is for anyone. As in her Caterpillar-award-winning poem ‘Mustafa’s Jumper’, Rumble’s book is a masterclass in empathy building: towards others’ struggles, towards nature, even towards people who annoy you at first and with whom you think you have nothing in common. But it’s the relationships that are so deftly woven throughout the book – old/young, parent/child, mentor/protegee, girl/boy, human/animal – that really give ‘Jakub’s Otter’ its heart. A must for any classroom or school library.
Gradually, story-loving and free-spirited Marta breaks through Jakub’s reserve, but it’s elderly woodsman Signor Mancini, who teaches him the ways of the forest and entrusts him with the care of an injured and pregnant otter, that Jakub really looks up to. We see Jakub glow again with the responsibility that forms so much of his character, but also learn that no matter how much he cares, he can’t control every outcome.
Rumble is best known for her poetry for children, and earlier verse novel ‘Little Light’, but there are many poems in ‘Jakub’s Otter’ too, written by Marta in her diary, a clever way of giving another character’s POV in a first-person narration, as well as a gentle introduction to young readers of the possibility that poetry is for anyone. As in her Caterpillar-award-winning poem ‘Mustafa’s Jumper’, Rumble’s book is a masterclass in empathy building: towards others’ struggles, towards nature, even towards people who annoy you at first and with whom you think you have nothing in common. But it’s the relationships that are so deftly woven throughout the book – old/young, parent/child, mentor/protegee, girl/boy, human/animal – that really give ‘Jakub’s Otter’ its heart. A must for any classroom or school library.
February 10, 2025
A Multi-Layered Venture of Discovery:
Jakub's Otter, by Coral Rumble, offers a great read for older children, and a tapestry of thoughts to dwell on long after.
I was instantly drawn in and engaged in this poignant yet pacey story, the pages flying by, while the details were so vividly told that I often found myself turning back to fully absorb and enjoy them.
Young carer, Jakub, tells his story with the mature, steady calm of a boy who has long been saddled with adult responsibilities, easing us through the moments of suspense, drama, sorrow and angst and other new experiences and surfacing emotions that he shares with us. Yet - and this is down to Rumble's clever writing - we feel for him every moment, as he leaves his beloved, disabled mother and flies off to a strange new country (Italy) with a family he's far from close to, and there encounters challenges social, emotional and physical - all three together when heading into the dark woods with a new acquaintance - woods where a wolf has recently been spotted.
This novel doesn't need wild adventures, crazy scares or bloodcurdling horrors at every turn to keep the reader hooked. Sure, there's plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, holding your breath, and wiping away tears of grief and joy too, but it's the telling of this charming tale, and the final relief and joy for this stoical, lovable boy, that young readers will find so compelling.
Highly recommended.
Jakub's Otter, by Coral Rumble, offers a great read for older children, and a tapestry of thoughts to dwell on long after.
I was instantly drawn in and engaged in this poignant yet pacey story, the pages flying by, while the details were so vividly told that I often found myself turning back to fully absorb and enjoy them.
Young carer, Jakub, tells his story with the mature, steady calm of a boy who has long been saddled with adult responsibilities, easing us through the moments of suspense, drama, sorrow and angst and other new experiences and surfacing emotions that he shares with us. Yet - and this is down to Rumble's clever writing - we feel for him every moment, as he leaves his beloved, disabled mother and flies off to a strange new country (Italy) with a family he's far from close to, and there encounters challenges social, emotional and physical - all three together when heading into the dark woods with a new acquaintance - woods where a wolf has recently been spotted.
This novel doesn't need wild adventures, crazy scares or bloodcurdling horrors at every turn to keep the reader hooked. Sure, there's plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, holding your breath, and wiping away tears of grief and joy too, but it's the telling of this charming tale, and the final relief and joy for this stoical, lovable boy, that young readers will find so compelling.
Highly recommended.
November 16, 2024
This is a lovely gentle story that made me cry a little at the end. It is the story of a young carer who gets to go on holiday and learns to relax a little, while making a friend and looking after an injured otter. Jakob loves his mum and feels guilt at leaving her with his aunt and hates that other people might think she is a burden. Poems by the friend give additional insight.
It lost a star for me however by having lots of exclamation points throughout the story. A pet peeve of mine.
It lost a star for me however by having lots of exclamation points throughout the story. A pet peeve of mine.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews