Jump for Joy
- Subject
- Animals - Dogs
- Age
- 3-5 years
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 32
- Publisher
- Astra Publishing House
- Size
- 22.9 cm × 27.4 cm
- ISBN
- 9781662602023
Kid seeks dog. Dog seeks kid. In this charming and imaginative tale of friendship, picture book readers will delight in what it means to have a furry best friend.
For as long as she can remember, Joy has wanted a dog. It doesn’t matter what kind: big, little, spotted, curly. She wants one so fiercely, she makes dogs out of snow, seashells, or whatever’s at hand! However, none of the dogs Joy makes are quite what she yearns for. The seashell dog washes away, and the snow dog melts into a puddle. Little does Joy know that her perfect dog friend is just around the corner—wishing just as fiercely for a kid—and waiting to be discovered.
Award-winning artist Hadley Hooper creates a world that is both timeless and magical as she weaves ink, paint, and collages made from vintage etchings together in a style that perfectly complements the classic feel of Jump for Joy. Readers will rejoice in this satisfying kid-meets-dog story, and will savor returning to this world again and again.
Featured in New York Times' "Valentine’s Day Children’s Books That Won’t Make You Cringe"
For as long as she can remember, Joy has wanted a dog. It doesn’t matter what kind: big, little, spotted, curly. She wants one so fiercely, she makes dogs out of snow, seashells, or whatever’s at hand! However, none of the dogs Joy makes are quite what she yearns for. The seashell dog washes away, and the snow dog melts into a puddle. Little does Joy know that her perfect dog friend is just around the corner—wishing just as fiercely for a kid—and waiting to be discovered.
Award-winning artist Hadley Hooper creates a world that is both timeless and magical as she weaves ink, paint, and collages made from vintage etchings together in a style that perfectly complements the classic feel of Jump for Joy. Readers will rejoice in this satisfying kid-meets-dog story, and will savor returning to this world again and again.
Featured in New York Times' "Valentine’s Day Children’s Books That Won’t Make You Cringe"
Data provided by BiblioShare.
$26.99In stock at our supplier — delivered within 5–9 days.
What reviewers said
A Bank Street Best Book 2025
CCBC Choices 2025
2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List
"Joy is a girl who really wants a dog. Jump is a dog who really wants a girl. As the seasons change, Jump and Joy both create stand-ins for their longed-for mates, using snow, sand and mud — but none can match the sense of kismet when the pair finally find each other. Vintage illustrations are collaged with loose character drawings to create a unique visual representation of friendship."
"The parallel yearnings of two strangers—a girl and a dog—carry readers through Jump for Joy, beautifully conceived...and awe-strikingly illustrated...From the get-go, readers will know where Jump for Joy is headed—and that's the point: as with any love story (and that's what this book is), the pleasure resides in the thrill of the chase. Here, the thrill also resides in Hooper's outdoors-set collages, which incorporate found imagery dating as far back as the 18th century."
"The book utilizes white space and stark black-and-white illustrations to evoke Jump and Joy’s loneliness; the characters are in a different illustration style, further emphasizing their isolation. Only when the pair find each other do their worlds fill with color."
"Hadley Hooper? You’ve been holding out on us, girl. Seriously, this is a little masterpiece that catches the average reader by surprise. It’s a wonderful example of a story that’s been done a hundred times but now hits you in a whole new way thanks in large part to both the effervescent writing on Ruelle’s part, and Hooper’s joyous free-for-all in the art. In this book, Hooper helps tell the story of a girl who wants a dog and a dog that wants a girl by mixing collaged art from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries alongside vibrant paints. The black and white images aren’t there by chance…
"Ruelle packs in an impressive amount of clever wordplay in a relatively spare text. The repetitive rhythm of both Joy and Jump doing similar actions is reassuring, while Hooper’s brilliant, mostly black-and-white collaged world highlights the sepia-toned friends as they navigate their way toward each other. Of course, when they finally cross paths, the world blooms into color. A wistful meditation on patience and discovery."
