Jack Gets Zapped!

A Jack Book #8

by Mac Barnett, Greg Pizzoli (Illustrator)

From New York Times bestselling author Mac Barnett and Geisel Award-winning illustrator Greg Pizzoli, an uproarious early reader series about a mischievous rabbit, a cranky old lady, and a lovable dog.

On rainy days, Jack loves nothing more than playing video games. But when lightning strikes and Jack finds himself trapped inside his favorite game, will he find a way out before it's game over?

Welcome to the laugh-out-loud and irreverent world of Jack, a new early reader series by the New York Times bestselling and award-winning team of Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels, 1st Grade, Games

80 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2021

About the author

Born to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac Barnett now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers.

Reviews

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read by the author on IG 3/13/21

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gift book 2021? beginning reader/ funny story video game, adventure Dialogue... beginning graphic novel

[Alida Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the end because the lady was up all night playing video games. 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮 - 7 1/2 year old boy

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Jack series continues. Jack gets zapped into a video game and the Lady has to rescue him. Readers see the adventure take place as Jack is a character in the game and the Lady uses the hero Avatar to defeat the Boss and save Jack.
Humor throughout for lower elementary readers. Love the twist where Jack and the Lady swap styles at the end.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreaders, you might not recognize Jack from the cover, but that's only because he's become trapped in a video game.

This story belongs to the clever, tongue-in-cheek series with words by Mac Barnett and pictures by Greg Pizzoli. Rex, the dog, is in this story... as usual for this series. The cranky old woman is included too.

Who's the most unlikely rescuer of adorable Jack? That would be the old woman, right? Well, the hilarious story within the story is how she learns to play a video game. Ineptly.

Yet, right as rain, the happy ending arrives in the nick of time.

A delightful FIVE STAR book!

[David Haggett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli have created a modern series suitable for Early Readers.

Previously, I had read a chapter book series that deals with a main character (i.e., protagonist) getting "pulled" into a video game; this addition to the Jack series will attract kids who like to game.

As usual in recent books he has illustrated, Mr. Pizzoli includes "How To" reference pages showing how to draw the head of Zapped Jack.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jack books are always so funny--this one is sure to snag the video game loving crowd. I thought the chapters trying to coach the Lady on how to play were hilarious (as she keeps falling off cliffs, etc). Exactly like when my mom tries playing any kind of video game, haha.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a rainy day, a perfect day to read books! But Jack would rather play video games. When lightning strikes, Jack gets Zapped into the video game. Can the Lady save him?

This might have been one of my favorite Jack books. My kiddo loves it and think it’s funny!

[Ellon · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars ( I loved it)

This is the best in the series so far! Jack is playing a game that is very reminiscent of Mario Bros when he gets zapped and transferred into the game. Then the Lady has to rescue him but she doesn't know how to play the game. It's so fun!

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack gets to live every gamer's dream -- the power flickers during a thunderstorm and suddenly he is inside his favorite game. Which is awesome fun until, of course, the big, mean Boss captures him and locks him up in a cage! Who can rescue Jack?

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book for beginning readers! Loved it!

[Liz Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks, Mac, for sharing this on the Book Club!

[Margo Tanenbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a great series!

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginner chapter book with video game theme. A younger version of the press start series.

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven year old declared this a five star book! But since this is my account I'm putting four lol. Just know if you have a new reader who likes video games this might be a good one to check out :)

[Mr. George The Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable reader with a concept many children dream of....going into a video game.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jack books are a new obsession in our house. Delightfully absurd Mac Barnett stories combined with adorable Greg Pizzoli illustrations make this fun for me too. This one is my favorite 😂

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emergent reader series. You just can’t go wrong with Mac Barnett! Always funny especially the scenes Lady trying to learn how to play video games.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the best one out of the series. My youngest loves these.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My pre-reader loved this at storytime. It was easy to make exciting inflection as I read it and just a cute story of Jack being zapped into his video game by a storm.

[Rachel B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay for independent reading by my first grader!

[Jesse Baggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but not riotous fun like the other two “Jack” books we read.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as good as the other ones

[Cornmaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the Jack series, Jack gets sucked into his video game, and hijinks ensue. Fun, typical Mac Barnett, so therefore a big winner for kids.

[Kiyoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack plays a video game instead of reading a book. Lightning struck and he gets zapped into the video game. The lady helped save Jack from the boss.

[Valerie Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny when Lady saw that she was in the game.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[Graham Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book with a nice twist in the middle that plays well for the rest of the story.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid adventure with a twist! 5 year old thought it was great.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marginally better than the first 7 books.