Jasper Juggles Jellyfish

Jasper Juggles Jellyfish by Ben Long illustrated by David Cornish, (Ford St. 2018), ISBN 9781925736021, HB $22.95    PB $14.95

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

This is a cute, funny and short tale told in rhyme. It teaches counting from 1 to 12 and reminds us that we can learn anything if we start small and gradually build our knowledge.

Jasper is an octopus who goes to school. He finds counting jellyfish a struggle so says he’d ‘rather learn to juggle’. He begins by juggling 1, 2, 3 jellyfish with two of his arms. Of course, as he’s an octopus he has eight arms. If each pair of arms can juggle three jellyfish, four pairs of arms can juggle twelve! Jasper and the jellyfish have fun and learn about numbers.

The illustrations by David Cornish are delightfully quirky. The colours are bold and bright. Each jellyfish has its own shape and personality. I especially liked Curlywurly meeting the startled gull, and the first double page spread which showed Jasper, a crab and a starfish on their way to school. Highly recommended.