Stuck

Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

32 pages

Published by Harper Collins Children’s Books

Publication date: 26th April 2012

Summary (from Goodreads):

From the illustrator of the #1 smash The Day the Crayons Quit comes another bestseller–a giggle-inducing tale of everything tossed, thrown, and hurled in order to free a kite!

When Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, he’s determined to get it out. But how? Well, by knocking it down with his shoe, of course. But strangely enough, it too gets stuck. And the only logical course of action . . . is to throw his other shoe. Only now it’s stuck! Surely there must be something he can use to get his kite unstuck. An orangutan? A boat? His front door? Yes, yes, and yes. And that’s only the beginning.

Stuck is Oliver Jeffers’ most absurdly funny story since The Incredible Book-Eating Boy. Childlike in concept and vibrantly illustrated as only Oliver Jeffers could, here is a picture book worth rescuing from any tree.

It all began when Floyd got his kite stuck in a tree…

Meeting Oliver Jeffers this week has inspired me to go back and properly review some of his books and I though I would start with one of my favourites – Stuck.

I read this book to every class I have and it always goes down well, particularly the unexpected ending. The story follows Floyd, a little boy who get shis kite stuck in a tree. So, of course, the only thing to do is throw something else up there to get it down…but then that gets stuck too! The story continues with various objects getting stuck in the tree, gradually getting more and more unbelievable…then Floyd decides to get a saw…

The unexpected ending made me laugh out loud when I first came across this book and still makes me snigger every time. At his talk, Oliver Jeffers mentioned struggling with the ending of this story as he had been trying to think of a way for everything that went up to come down again and it just wasn’t working. Then he got inspiration from his nephews playing and came up with the perfect ending!

Suspend your disbelief for this one because it is ridiculous, but it is so very much fun and I can guarantee that this will become a firm favourite. Enjoy Floyd’s exploits to get his kite down and the expression in every line of the illustrations.

This is sure to become a classic!

What I liked: Unexpected ending, increasing ridiculousness of objects and the style of the illustrations which has so much character in every line!

Even better if: This couldn’t be improved – it is perfect just as it is!

How you could use it in your classroom: I read it to my new class on Transition Day because it is short, sweet and funny. There is always a groan when Floyd does something silly and a moment of silence, before laughter at the end. A brilliant read-aloud! Floyd has since become a recurring character in my classroom – we use him for Maths and Grammar problems!