Skippyjon Jones is back! The rambunctious Siamese kitten that imagines himself as a sword-toting Chihuahua has returned in a new picture book, and young readers will be delighted with the result.
Sent to his room for a time-out after drawing on the walls, Skippyjon gives new meaning to a phrase many parents know well: bouncing off the walls. He literally bounces out of his basket, calling, “I’m Skippyjon Jones, a Chihuahua to my bones.” And that, rather than his behavior, is what this fantastic feline wants to fantasize about.
Skippyjon does indeed have a big imagination. In fact, as he walks into his closet he enters his own fantasy world, where, as El Skippito, the Great Swordfighter, he must rescue his old amigos, Los Chimichangos, his Chihuahua friends.
“Hola, Skippito,” says Don Diego, the biggest of the small ones, as he explains that their house has been taken over by the big bobble-ito. And so, it’s Skippyjon to the rescue! Young readers will root for Skippyjon to succeed, and by the end, they’ll probably be ready to join him in a well-deserved nap! Full of rhymes and many Spanish words and expressions, this is a wonderful choice for story time or a fun bedtime read-aloud. Judy Schachner’s first Skippyjon book, Skippyjon Jones (2003), won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Author/illustrator Schachner originally based these books on her own cat, Skippy, and, she admits, “the teeny, tiny, trembling Chihuahua deep down inside of me.” Schachner, who graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in illustration, has also designed greeting cards. She began writing and illustrating children’s books in 1995. With Skippyjon, she has found a character whose imagination, energy and sheer vitality matches her colorful, playful style.
