Revel in the breathtaking strangeness of We Became Jaguars, a transformative picture book from Dave Eggers.
When Grandma comes to visit and a young boy's parents leave, the rules of the house&;and the world&;change: They transform into jaguars!
Readers follow their journey into the lush, undiscovered world of nature, experience true freedom, and lose themselves in the exhilarating power of pretending.
- From Dave Eggers, bestselling author of The Circle, Tomorrow Most Likely, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
- Filled with alluring illustrations
- Features Eggers's signature knack for the surreal
After a day of playing, running, and climbing through sumptuous landscapes, the ending will leave you wondering what's real and what's make-believe.
Grandchildren, grandparents, teachers, and librarians alike will fall in love with this vivid celebration of imagination and the power of love to leave you forever altered.
- Gorgeous illustrations of animals, forests, and the natural world
- A celebration of the power of imagination, play, fiction, and storytelling
- Great gift for grandparents, as well as librarians, English and science teachers, and educators
- Add it to the shelf with books like The Antlered by Dashka Slater, Drawn Together by Minh L, and On a Magical Do-Nothing Day
by Beatrice Alemagna.
Industry Reviews
"Eggers' straightforward text is enlivened by simile: a lake looks like silver and tastes like moonlight and is further enhanced by White's lushly colorful illustrations. But do the two humans really become jaguars? Careful readers will find visual clues but no matter; what's really important is the book's lively celebration of imagination."-Booklist
"The vivid concept that a grandmother's visit delivers danger and freedom instead of cozy reassurance is a winner, and Eggers (Most of the Better Natural Things in the World) develops it with easy humor and jaguar-speed pacing."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Transfixing painterly illustrations offer nocturnal purples and blues along with bioluminescent pinks and greens, creating a woozy, otherworldly habitat. . . . Young people will find humor in the child's narration . . . The phrase "we jaguared on" repeats again and again as they cross varying landscapes, and it perfectly captures the fluidity of jaguar movement in its languid articulation. Children will relish this book's blurred ambiguities; what's real and what's imagined are as hard to distinguish as a jaguar in the shadows. A fresh inversion of expectations told in vivid art and idiom."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Clever."-The Wall Street Journal
"[We Became Jaguars is] a wondrous, breathtakingly painted night of bonding and adventure."-The New York Times
"[The] playfulness isn't restricted to language. White's illustrations are spirited and clever . . . [and] sumptuously depicted. . . . White's color palette is beautiful. . . . [S]o fantastic it feels real, or so real that it feels fantastic? A must-have tale about the power of imagination."-School Library Journal, starred review
"Eggers spins phrases with an evocative beauty. . . . In his picture-book debut, painter White animates the pair's adventure in expansive, richly colored spreads that depict the murky, purple-hued shadows of the night, effectively establishing the book's mysterious, majestic tone. . . . [This] peculiar journey is worth taking."-The Horn Book Magazine
"[T]hrilling. . . [Ex]pressive [and] full of emotional resonance and adventure, [We Became Jaguars] captures the feeling of complete immersion in a game of make-believe. And, if you're a grandparent, it may give you some ideas."-The Wall Street Journal
