Jamberry, by Bruce Degen

For our family, part of the appeal of Jamberry, by Bruce Degen, is the excitement of the berry hunt.  Seattle, Washington and the surrounding areas are covered with blackberries.  In fact, author Tom Robbins makes the battle against blackberry brambles in the Puget Sound area part of the story of his fantastic not-for-kids novel, Still Life with Woodpecker.  Our children loved to spend a Saturday afternoon at the local park or in the Grand Forest on Bainbridge Island hunting for blackberries.  Jamberry brings the hunt for berries to a magical land where it’s not just the berries that are flavored.

Trees of toast, waffle and butter water lilies, jelly roll hedges, and raspberry jam ice rinks punctuate this fun berry adventure.  Ride a blackberry train.  Frolic with ponies and lambs in a strawberry field.  Sink down deep in a river of blueberries.  A favorite and healthy snack, berries are often the treat that children look forward to more than almost any other.  Reading a story about their favorite treat makes it easy for children to interact with both the pictures and the narrative.  Even the words themselves (words like “hatberry,” “trainberry,” “razzamatazzberry,” and “moonberry”) add to the fun of reading this often silly but always poignant story.

Both of my children love this book, both for the odd combinations of word and for the free associations between different activities and their favorite fruits.  With pictures rich in detail and text simple but stimulating, Jamberry is great for children that celebrate the excitement of a bowl of delicious berries.  No toddler’s board book collection should be without this tantalizing treat.