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Year of the Jungle
Suzy spends her year in first grade waiting for her father, who is serving in Vietnam, and when the postcards stop coming she worries that he will never make it home.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
12 people are currently reading
914 people want to read
About the author
Suzanne Collins
52 books124k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Since 1991, Suzanne Collins has been busy writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschool viewers, she penned multiple stories for the Emmy-nominated Little Bear and Oswald. She also co-wrote the critically acclaimed Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Santa, Baby! Most recently she was the Head Writer for Scholastic Entertainment’s Clifford’s Puppy Days.
While working on a Kids WB show called Generation O! she met children’s author James Proimos, who talked her into giving children’s books a try.
Thinking one day about Alice in Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you’re much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you’re not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Well, that’s the story of Gregor the Overlander, the first book in her five-part series, The Underland Chronicles. Suzanne also has a rhyming picture book illustrated by Mike Lester entitled When Charlie McButton Lost Power.
She currently lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they adopted from their backyard.
The books she is most successful for in teenage eyes are The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. These books have won several awards, including the GA Peach Award.
Since 1991, Suzanne Collins has been busy writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschool viewers, she penned multiple stories for the Emmy-nominated Little Bear and Oswald. She also co-wrote the critically acclaimed Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Santa, Baby! Most recently she was the Head Writer for Scholastic Entertainment’s Clifford’s Puppy Days.
While working on a Kids WB show called Generation O! she met children’s author James Proimos, who talked her into giving children’s books a try.
Thinking one day about Alice in Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you’re much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you’re not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Well, that’s the story of Gregor the Overlander, the first book in her five-part series, The Underland Chronicles. Suzanne also has a rhyming picture book illustrated by Mike Lester entitled When Charlie McButton Lost Power.
She currently lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they adopted from their backyard.
The books she is most successful for in teenage eyes are The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. These books have won several awards, including the GA Peach Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
October 28, 2013
Wonderfully told tale from a young child’s point of view. The author’s father was in Vietnam for a year the year she was in 1st grade. And the story had me feeling angry all over again about Vietnam, and about unnecessary wars, and sad for those they affect. This is a fine story for children who have parents in the military and any children who have temporary separations from parents or other important people. Not for children who have experienced or will experience the death of a parent or other people important to them; this story is for temporary separations, not permanent ones. The illustrations really capture the emotions the girl is experiencing and the imagining she is doing. They’re terrific. But it’s the story told through a child’s eyes that is what really shines here.
July 2, 2013
A poignant look back at a traumatic year for Suzanne Collins as a first grader. Her healthy and vibrant father heads off to the Vietnam War, and little Suzanne has no concept of time, distance, and combat in a foreign land. You experience the horrors of war through the eyes of one so young and sheltered from the evils of the world. It introduces elementary children to the meaning of having a military parent and having little to no contact for prolonged periods of time, and the later shock of seeing your military parent so profoundly changed in appearance and behavior. It will take some planning to introduce students to the historical aspects of the Vietnam War to make this picture book understandable to them. For grades 1st and up.
November 18, 2013
Back on April 10, 2011, an article appeared in the New York Times Magazine section about author Suzanne Collins. I had just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy, so I sat down to read the article. In the article, Collins said a lot of interesting things about war, but what resonated most with me was the way she summed up so well what war, any war, feels like to the kids on the home front:
"If your parent is deployed and you are that young, you spend the whole time wondering where they are and waiting for them to come home, " she said. "As time passes and the absence is longer and longer, you become more and more concerned - but you don't really have the words to express your concern. There's only this continued absence."
I cut the article out and saved it.
Now, Collins, best known for The Hunger Games trilogy, has written a picture book about her own experience as a 6 year old waiting for her father to return home after he was deployed to Vietnam.
Sue and her dad are close. He reads Ogden Nash poems to her. Her favorite is The Tale of Custard the Dragon, who is brave even when afraid. Then one day, Sue's dad goes away to "something called a war. It's in a place called Viet Nam" where there is a jungle. The only jungle she knows about is the one where her favorite cartoon character lives and so Sue imagines that her dad is in a jungle like that.
Her dad will be gone for a whole year. But, she wonders, how long is a year? Turns out, it is pretty long when you are 6 and scared.
Sue worries her mom may go away, too. Pretty soon postcards start to arrive. But on Halloween, when she gets too much candy from a lady who reassures her that her dad will be fine, Sue begins to worry.
Presents arrives for Christmas, but so does a birthday card at the wrong time of year. Then, other holidays go by without any more postcards from her dad, until finally one arrives that asking her to "pray for me."
Eventually, it is summer vacation and Sue's dad returns home - but he just stares into space and isn't really there anymore. In time, Sue's dad really does return home, but inevitably, some things have changed.
Year of the Jungle is one of the best books I have ever seen addressing what life is like when a young child has a parent away fighting in a war and s/he is too young to understand just what that means. A year is a long, long time for a little girl to wait for her dad to come home from war. In fact, it is a tough year for anyone with a deployed loved one. But, as Collins said, it is hard for kids to express what they feel. Remembering her own experience, she knows it is a year filled with with questions, worries, fear and separation anxiety and she has captured these mixed emotions beautifully.
The whimsical, cartoonlike illustrations, done with ink and Corel painter by James Proimos, gives the story just the right amount of emotional balance that is needed in an otherwise intense, serious story.
Year of the Jungle is a book that is bound to spark a lot of questions, especially from kids with a parent who is serving in Afghanistan.
The reason I chose to include this book for The Children's War is because it did remind me of Tomie dePaolo's 26 Fairmount Avenue: The War Years. He was also able to capture the same emotions in his books 26 Fairmount Avenue: The War Years. I think it is important to see that how children experience a parent away fighting in a war really doens't change from war to war.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was purchased for my personal library
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
"If your parent is deployed and you are that young, you spend the whole time wondering where they are and waiting for them to come home, " she said. "As time passes and the absence is longer and longer, you become more and more concerned - but you don't really have the words to express your concern. There's only this continued absence."
I cut the article out and saved it.
Now, Collins, best known for The Hunger Games trilogy, has written a picture book about her own experience as a 6 year old waiting for her father to return home after he was deployed to Vietnam.
Sue and her dad are close. He reads Ogden Nash poems to her. Her favorite is The Tale of Custard the Dragon, who is brave even when afraid. Then one day, Sue's dad goes away to "something called a war. It's in a place called Viet Nam" where there is a jungle. The only jungle she knows about is the one where her favorite cartoon character lives and so Sue imagines that her dad is in a jungle like that.
Her dad will be gone for a whole year. But, she wonders, how long is a year? Turns out, it is pretty long when you are 6 and scared.
Sue worries her mom may go away, too. Pretty soon postcards start to arrive. But on Halloween, when she gets too much candy from a lady who reassures her that her dad will be fine, Sue begins to worry.
Presents arrives for Christmas, but so does a birthday card at the wrong time of year. Then, other holidays go by without any more postcards from her dad, until finally one arrives that asking her to "pray for me."
Eventually, it is summer vacation and Sue's dad returns home - but he just stares into space and isn't really there anymore. In time, Sue's dad really does return home, but inevitably, some things have changed.
Year of the Jungle is one of the best books I have ever seen addressing what life is like when a young child has a parent away fighting in a war and s/he is too young to understand just what that means. A year is a long, long time for a little girl to wait for her dad to come home from war. In fact, it is a tough year for anyone with a deployed loved one. But, as Collins said, it is hard for kids to express what they feel. Remembering her own experience, she knows it is a year filled with with questions, worries, fear and separation anxiety and she has captured these mixed emotions beautifully.
The whimsical, cartoonlike illustrations, done with ink and Corel painter by James Proimos, gives the story just the right amount of emotional balance that is needed in an otherwise intense, serious story.
Year of the Jungle is a book that is bound to spark a lot of questions, especially from kids with a parent who is serving in Afghanistan.
The reason I chose to include this book for The Children's War is because it did remind me of Tomie dePaolo's 26 Fairmount Avenue: The War Years. He was also able to capture the same emotions in his books 26 Fairmount Avenue: The War Years. I think it is important to see that how children experience a parent away fighting in a war really doens't change from war to war.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was purchased for my personal library
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
November 13, 2020
I know this is a children's book but when I saw it was on Overdrive I couldn't refuse to borrow it! I love all of Suzanne's work and can't wait to continue with The Underland Chronicles! She is truly a talented person.
I really liked this story about Suzanne growing up with her dad fighting in Vietnam. I really liked the illustrations and Rascal the cat.
I really liked this story about Suzanne growing up with her dad fighting in Vietnam. I really liked the illustrations and Rascal the cat.
June 15, 2025
Suzanne Collins recalls her childhood when her father went away for a year to serve in Vietnam during the war. It captures well the confusion, annoyance, anxiety and fear of a child whose parent is off doing something dangerous, but I wasn't really engaged by the pacing or fantasy sequences.
While useful for parents with kids in a similar situation, it may be a bit heavy for a broader audience of children.
While useful for parents with kids in a similar situation, it may be a bit heavy for a broader audience of children.
June 30, 2025
3.5 better thn sunrise on the reaping
June 10, 2014
Often I try to avoid finding out what a book is about before I read it, so as to come to it without too many preconceptions. Usually that's a good mindset for reading a new book. But probably not for this one.
This is about the year Suzanne's father spend on duty in Viet Nam. He was there in '68. My dad was there in '69. Her dad sent her postcards. My dad sent us audio tapes. She noticed people trying not to look worried when she said where her father was, I was four and oblivious. She saw the news and became deeply concerned, whereas I don't recall watching anything about the war. Her father came home, eventually, but later than expected. As far as I know my dad came right back on schedule. We both got dolls. I didn't notice any changes in my dad, except that he was insistent we call him 'Sir," which I don't think we'd done before.
There's a tremendous amount of emotional resonance underneath all this. For some readers all that subtext will slide by, unnoticed. Others may find themselves swamped, but relieved that someone is talking about the thing that no one talks about. For me it was mostly just a "there but for the grace ..." moment, because I could have been Suzanne, and that would be dire.
It would be a really good idea for every public and school library to have a copy of this out, within easy reach, all the time, and for all the staff to know about it. The only other book I can think of with a similar storyline is Carl Hiassen's Scat, which should likewise be ubiquitous.
Library copy.
This is about the year Suzanne's father spend on duty in Viet Nam. He was there in '68. My dad was there in '69. Her dad sent her postcards. My dad sent us audio tapes. She noticed people trying not to look worried when she said where her father was, I was four and oblivious. She saw the news and became deeply concerned, whereas I don't recall watching anything about the war. Her father came home, eventually, but later than expected. As far as I know my dad came right back on schedule. We both got dolls. I didn't notice any changes in my dad, except that he was insistent we call him 'Sir," which I don't think we'd done before.
There's a tremendous amount of emotional resonance underneath all this. For some readers all that subtext will slide by, unnoticed. Others may find themselves swamped, but relieved that someone is talking about the thing that no one talks about. For me it was mostly just a "there but for the grace ..." moment, because I could have been Suzanne, and that would be dire.
It would be a really good idea for every public and school library to have a copy of this out, within easy reach, all the time, and for all the staff to know about it. The only other book I can think of with a similar storyline is Carl Hiassen's Scat, which should likewise be ubiquitous.
Library copy.
August 21, 2014
This was a sweet book. I got an advanced copy at BEA, so I feel super privileged that I was able to read it. The story is autobiographical. The main character is Suzy, and her father is sent to fight in the Viet Nam war. She's only in the 1st grade, so her imagination takes over when she hears about what her father is doing so far from home. The story is very heartwarming (a tear may have been shed at the end). The illustrations are great, the two page spreads of the "dreams" offer so much symbolism. Another bestseller for Collins. I'm sure many military families would be interested in this for their children.
August 10, 2015
When Suzanne Collins is in first grade, her father is deployed to Viet Nam. Her childlike innocence prevents her from understanding the danger he is in as he goes off to war, only knowing that he will be gone for a year and she will miss him.
As the story progresses, little Suzy realizes just what her father is doing in Viet Nam when she sees footage of what is happening there on the news. From that moment on, her perceptions completely change.
There's so much emotion and symbolism to unpack here that it's just another example of why picture books should be a part of every teacher's classroom, not just the younger grades.
As the story progresses, little Suzy realizes just what her father is doing in Viet Nam when she sees footage of what is happening there on the news. From that moment on, her perceptions completely change.
There's so much emotion and symbolism to unpack here that it's just another example of why picture books should be a part of every teacher's classroom, not just the younger grades.
September 22, 2013
Yikes! This never would have been published if it weren't by you know who...
Hated it!
Hated it!
November 11, 2018
What does a faraway jungle war mean to a six-year-old, anyway? When Suzy was not yet in first grade, cherishing moments on her father's lap reading of Ogden Nash's renowned Custard the Dragon, all she knew about the jungle war was that it meant her father was leaving, and wasn't coming back for a long time. Just how long was a year, anyway? But a father sent away anywhere is a father no longer present for his girl, whether he's been shipped to Vietnam or New Jersey.
The year goes by strangely for Suzy. Reminders of her father's absence occasionally intrude on the everyday in seemingly random jags, but she and her family aren't waiting by the radio listening to reports of the war to learn if her father survived that day's skirmishes. No, to do that would only ensure madness, and the grownups couldn't do that to the kids. So it isn't so bad for Suzy, fantasizing about her father living in a lush jungle, even if it's far away. A jungle could be nice. Some of Suzy's favorite television characters live in jungles and are as happy as could be, even if they do have an unfortunate penchant for running into trees while swinging on vines.
But it's the reactions of adults to learning of her father's stationing in Vietnam that begins to bring on the heebie-jeebies for Suzy, now in first grade. Why the nervousness in their demeanor at her mention of "Viet Nam", if her father isn't in serious trouble? Why the scowls when she informs certain people that's where he is, or the worried looks or sadness on the faces of others? Why would one woman on Halloween heap far too much candy upon trick-or-treating Suzy after hearing that her father is in Vietnam, if there's no cause for alarm? Now the dark shadows steal into Suzy's tranquil vision of her father's jungle abode, no longer imagined as a pleasant television studio set where no harm could ever come to him. Slowly there come wicked marauders into the "Viet Nam" she imagines, and it's no longer so nice thinking of him there. Yet the gifts and postcards from her father still come every now and then, brief reports about himself, sometimes, but mostly just a line or two of meaningless smalltalk, toss-off remarks like he might make if he were at home as usual. In the heat of whatever is going on in those jungles, the ability to hide within toss-off remarks may be all a man feels he has left.
The holidays whiz by, Thanksgiving and Christmas and Valentine's Day and Easter, but without much word from Suzy's father. After months of carefully filtered access to news of Vietnam, a slip-up by her mother gives Suzy a short yet horrific look at what is actually happening in the jungle war, and now Suzy knows she was all wrong in picturing her father's destination to be anything like the animated jungle programs she watches on television. No, this war, this mire into which her father has sunk, is too terrible to be true. How is there any coming back from a place of bullets and bombs and blood, brave men strewn muddied and still in death's cold embrace? "Pray for me" her father quietly implores her in one postcard, and this isn't at all like the vanilla conversation he attempted in previous letters. Pray for me? In this new paradigm of life, not much isn't scary for Suzy anymore. Everything around her has taken on new shades of sneaking, creeping menace, and Suzy doesn't like it at all. Nothing is totally safe or pleasant. Danger can emerge from even the most cheerful fantasy, if her idea of the jungle was so far off the mark.
There are no words to convey the contents of Suzy's heart when she learns of her father's eventual fate. His scheduled year at conflict may not end as she envisioned when first she found out he would be going away, but there's more to war and more to people than Suzy knew a year ago. The courage of a Custard the Dragon can only be found in a heart full of fear, the heart of an individual everyone knows is brave even if terror assailed him every day along the way. But "most people come back", and for those who do, life goes on, even though the past be black as night. There is always cause to live another day.
Suzanne Collins portrays the full gamut of emotions in Year of the Jungle, and does so with such effectiveness that despite the book's brevity, one truly does feel as if a year-long journey has been completed by the end. The story walks a tenuous tightrope, appealing to the reader's fears and other volatile emotions while trying not to be too frightening for younger kids to safely experience the narrative, and I'm not sure Suzanne Collins could have done a much better job balancing on that tightrope. The rend in one's heart at the slowly growing fear that the one they love most is never coming back...it's an excruciating purgatory to be trapped in, and if fate should be kind enough to ultimately end that painful wait in the embrace of love's return, then one has been blessed, indeed. Not all are lucky enough to get back that which was so close to being lost.
I would give at least two and a half stars to Year of the Jungle, possibly more, even though it required a lot of consideration before I could decide whether to round that rating up or down. I decided to round it up to three stars because the book's emotions are impossible to forget, and are expressed with such touching subtlety. Suzanne Collins, mastermind of the Hunger Games trilogy and the Underland Chronicles, has done it again with Year of the Jungle.
The year goes by strangely for Suzy. Reminders of her father's absence occasionally intrude on the everyday in seemingly random jags, but she and her family aren't waiting by the radio listening to reports of the war to learn if her father survived that day's skirmishes. No, to do that would only ensure madness, and the grownups couldn't do that to the kids. So it isn't so bad for Suzy, fantasizing about her father living in a lush jungle, even if it's far away. A jungle could be nice. Some of Suzy's favorite television characters live in jungles and are as happy as could be, even if they do have an unfortunate penchant for running into trees while swinging on vines.
But it's the reactions of adults to learning of her father's stationing in Vietnam that begins to bring on the heebie-jeebies for Suzy, now in first grade. Why the nervousness in their demeanor at her mention of "Viet Nam", if her father isn't in serious trouble? Why the scowls when she informs certain people that's where he is, or the worried looks or sadness on the faces of others? Why would one woman on Halloween heap far too much candy upon trick-or-treating Suzy after hearing that her father is in Vietnam, if there's no cause for alarm? Now the dark shadows steal into Suzy's tranquil vision of her father's jungle abode, no longer imagined as a pleasant television studio set where no harm could ever come to him. Slowly there come wicked marauders into the "Viet Nam" she imagines, and it's no longer so nice thinking of him there. Yet the gifts and postcards from her father still come every now and then, brief reports about himself, sometimes, but mostly just a line or two of meaningless smalltalk, toss-off remarks like he might make if he were at home as usual. In the heat of whatever is going on in those jungles, the ability to hide within toss-off remarks may be all a man feels he has left.
The holidays whiz by, Thanksgiving and Christmas and Valentine's Day and Easter, but without much word from Suzy's father. After months of carefully filtered access to news of Vietnam, a slip-up by her mother gives Suzy a short yet horrific look at what is actually happening in the jungle war, and now Suzy knows she was all wrong in picturing her father's destination to be anything like the animated jungle programs she watches on television. No, this war, this mire into which her father has sunk, is too terrible to be true. How is there any coming back from a place of bullets and bombs and blood, brave men strewn muddied and still in death's cold embrace? "Pray for me" her father quietly implores her in one postcard, and this isn't at all like the vanilla conversation he attempted in previous letters. Pray for me? In this new paradigm of life, not much isn't scary for Suzy anymore. Everything around her has taken on new shades of sneaking, creeping menace, and Suzy doesn't like it at all. Nothing is totally safe or pleasant. Danger can emerge from even the most cheerful fantasy, if her idea of the jungle was so far off the mark.
There are no words to convey the contents of Suzy's heart when she learns of her father's eventual fate. His scheduled year at conflict may not end as she envisioned when first she found out he would be going away, but there's more to war and more to people than Suzy knew a year ago. The courage of a Custard the Dragon can only be found in a heart full of fear, the heart of an individual everyone knows is brave even if terror assailed him every day along the way. But "most people come back", and for those who do, life goes on, even though the past be black as night. There is always cause to live another day.
Suzanne Collins portrays the full gamut of emotions in Year of the Jungle, and does so with such effectiveness that despite the book's brevity, one truly does feel as if a year-long journey has been completed by the end. The story walks a tenuous tightrope, appealing to the reader's fears and other volatile emotions while trying not to be too frightening for younger kids to safely experience the narrative, and I'm not sure Suzanne Collins could have done a much better job balancing on that tightrope. The rend in one's heart at the slowly growing fear that the one they love most is never coming back...it's an excruciating purgatory to be trapped in, and if fate should be kind enough to ultimately end that painful wait in the embrace of love's return, then one has been blessed, indeed. Not all are lucky enough to get back that which was so close to being lost.
I would give at least two and a half stars to Year of the Jungle, possibly more, even though it required a lot of consideration before I could decide whether to round that rating up or down. I decided to round it up to three stars because the book's emotions are impossible to forget, and are expressed with such touching subtlety. Suzanne Collins, mastermind of the Hunger Games trilogy and the Underland Chronicles, has done it again with Year of the Jungle.
Read
September 9, 2024Can't rate. I have no idea how I'd share this with even the few children I might imagine would benefit from it, much less how I'd feel comfortable putting this out with the other picture-books, the ones aimed at toddlers.
January 12, 2018
I work in a base library, so we get a lot of families dealing with deployments and other separations (including my own when I was a kid). There are a number of good books for families facing these separations. This isn't one of them.
This is indeed a book about a military deployment, told from the 1st grade perspective. However, it's not a book about passing the time and looking forward to a homecoming. The girl's worries build through the year, and even become unsettling, even to an adult reader. For kids already facing this, that's not how they want/need to be viewing the deployment. Their minds are already worrying - they don't need someone else's imagination and worries feeding their own.
I think my biggest problem with this book is that there's not a clear target audience (for me, at least). Or maybe I'm just not in it? This is more a memoir about those at home during a war, perhaps best suited for those not already connected with the military. But it looks to be a cheery picture book. The pictures are bright and cartoonish, and from the cover you'd have no idea that this is the story of a little girl facing building worries during the year her father is deployed. There is a happy homecoming, and the repeated message about being brave, but a lot more of the book is about the worries and the stress and the emptiness of the deployment for those left behind. There is also the added historical setting of the Vietnam war. Many other deployment-themed children's books are non-specific or focus on more recent actions (where family members might be currently being deployed). So this becomes more of a history book than a home front-coping book. Which seems a bit heavy for a picture book. Especially one with such bright illustrations and cover.
Other minor complaints: the prose feels a bit choppy and the year doesn't always flow smoothly.
Overall, it's not a book for me or my average patrons. For someone not connected to the military who has less idea of what life with a deployment involves for the home front, this is not a bad view. But in a picture book format? Rather heavy. Like I said, the book feels disjointed and not quite sure who it's targeting for an audience.
This is indeed a book about a military deployment, told from the 1st grade perspective. However, it's not a book about passing the time and looking forward to a homecoming. The girl's worries build through the year, and even become unsettling, even to an adult reader. For kids already facing this, that's not how they want/need to be viewing the deployment. Their minds are already worrying - they don't need someone else's imagination and worries feeding their own.
I think my biggest problem with this book is that there's not a clear target audience (for me, at least). Or maybe I'm just not in it? This is more a memoir about those at home during a war, perhaps best suited for those not already connected with the military. But it looks to be a cheery picture book. The pictures are bright and cartoonish, and from the cover you'd have no idea that this is the story of a little girl facing building worries during the year her father is deployed. There is a happy homecoming, and the repeated message about being brave, but a lot more of the book is about the worries and the stress and the emptiness of the deployment for those left behind. There is also the added historical setting of the Vietnam war. Many other deployment-themed children's books are non-specific or focus on more recent actions (where family members might be currently being deployed). So this becomes more of a history book than a home front-coping book. Which seems a bit heavy for a picture book. Especially one with such bright illustrations and cover.
Other minor complaints: the prose feels a bit choppy and the year doesn't always flow smoothly.
Overall, it's not a book for me or my average patrons. For someone not connected to the military who has less idea of what life with a deployment involves for the home front, this is not a bad view. But in a picture book format? Rather heavy. Like I said, the book feels disjointed and not quite sure who it's targeting for an audience.
April 8, 2015
In this picture book Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games series, describes her experiences as a child when her father went to fight in the Vietnam War. The book was well-written and compelling in its own right, but what it really makes me want to do is write a college essay detailing the impact of having a father at war on the Hunger Games series. You have a war that many perceive is not right, a father whisked away without rhyme or reason, and when he does come back, he is changed, he is still in the jungle. His psychological trauma surely provided at least some inspiration for Katniss in the third Hunger Games.
One of the most tragic parts of Year of the Jungle comes near the end of the book, when six year old Suzy is watching television:
"From the TV, I hear the words 'Viet Nam,' and I look up. Explosions. Helicopters. Guns. Soldiers lie on the ground. Some of them aren't moving. My mom runs across the living room and turns off the TV. 'It's okay. Your dad is okay,' she says. I don't say anything. Later, I hide in the closet and cry."
How terrible for a six-year-old to see such a thing on TV, to know that her father is out there.
I don't normally subscribe to doing author or biography driven readings of literature. As one of my favorite literary theorists, Roland Barthes, put it, the author is dead. In other words, once a text is written, it stands independent of the author, the author's intent is irrelevant, and it must be judged on its own.
Yet the occasional author-driven analysis is enlightening. Many of the critiques of the Hunger Games series accuse the series of being over-violent, inhumane, terrible even for putting children and teenagers in the situation of killing each other. Yet the children of today's world are faced with death and tragedy and war and terrible things on TV. If the Hunger Games is too violent for today's young people, it is no more so than the atrocities committed in our modern world.
One of the most tragic parts of Year of the Jungle comes near the end of the book, when six year old Suzy is watching television:
"From the TV, I hear the words 'Viet Nam,' and I look up. Explosions. Helicopters. Guns. Soldiers lie on the ground. Some of them aren't moving. My mom runs across the living room and turns off the TV. 'It's okay. Your dad is okay,' she says. I don't say anything. Later, I hide in the closet and cry."
How terrible for a six-year-old to see such a thing on TV, to know that her father is out there.
I don't normally subscribe to doing author or biography driven readings of literature. As one of my favorite literary theorists, Roland Barthes, put it, the author is dead. In other words, once a text is written, it stands independent of the author, the author's intent is irrelevant, and it must be judged on its own.
Yet the occasional author-driven analysis is enlightening. Many of the critiques of the Hunger Games series accuse the series of being over-violent, inhumane, terrible even for putting children and teenagers in the situation of killing each other. Yet the children of today's world are faced with death and tragedy and war and terrible things on TV. If the Hunger Games is too violent for today's young people, it is no more so than the atrocities committed in our modern world.
May 25, 2015
This is a puzzling book. The brightly colored cartoon-style illustrations seem designed for a very young audience. The story: about the deployment of a 6 year-old Suzanne Collins' (Hunger Games) father to Vietnam and her growing worry about him, seems targeted at an older child audience. Much of what is interesting in this story is nuanced: how cartoon animal characters from a beloved jungle program Collins watches morph and act out her growing understanding of the darker events occurring in Vietnam's jungle, how the solicitous concerned reaction of adults is what causes her to worry. Would this book be useful to young children whose parents are deployed? Would it be of interest or comprehensible to children not in that situation? I think many children might fasten on the sensational moment, unrelated to her dad's deployment, when a swimming coach throws a non-swimming Collins into the deep-end and she nearly drowns. How does this connect-the world is a dangerous place- your dad can go to war, you might drown. Is this a message I would want to share with a 4-7 year-old? (No.) In some ways the book is most useful for adults as insight into how children understand such an event. However I do think it could be very valuable for another group: older children-9-13 who are dealing with a parent absent in a dangerous location. The specificity and openness Collins displays: including the trivial as well as the monumental, seem well designed to spark conversation.
One odd element that gives some credence to those who view this book as primarily biography about Collins is the inclusion at the end of a single photograph of Collins as a child at the time of her Dad's deployment. Readers of the book are likely to want to see pictures of the dad-who we've learned to worry about, the cat-who is cute, and the siblings. To only include Collins seems weirdly self-reverential.
One odd element that gives some credence to those who view this book as primarily biography about Collins is the inclusion at the end of a single photograph of Collins as a child at the time of her Dad's deployment. Readers of the book are likely to want to see pictures of the dad-who we've learned to worry about, the cat-who is cute, and the siblings. To only include Collins seems weirdly self-reverential.
March 17, 2014
‘Year of the Jungle’ contains cultural representation in terms of the Vietnam War. This allows children’s literature to be singled out in a diverse, inclusive manner when compared to the usual books containing British, White characters.
The book is full of eye catchy yet simple illustrations which engages the young reader immediately. Similarly, the varied sentence lengths, particularly short sentences cater to the needs of young children as it resembles the form a child takes when speaking. The story is written in first person, from the point of view of the main character; a young girl who eagerly awaits for the return of her father from his duties in the war.
Not 100% sure of what a war means, or what it is exactly that her father is doing for a whole year, or what the connotations of a year itself are; Suzanne Collins realistically depicts the world from a young child’s perception and mind frame. Full of questions which are typical of children, and imaginations running wild; another feature of children’s personalities, Collins also presents a few pages without text. Instead they are filled with the young girl’s dreams, thoughts and creative imagination.
Adult readers can infer the humour posed in the postcards sent from Suzy's father, and a lot of Vietnamese children may actually be aware of the war due to their own parents or relatives. The themes running throughout the book are places and feelings. The storyline develops within increments of time; a year altogether and children can visualise the events taking place in that time.
A great story to be read aloud to year one and two children, who will notice that the characters are coloured with their very own skin complexions, allowing the theme of equality to be promoted.
The book is full of eye catchy yet simple illustrations which engages the young reader immediately. Similarly, the varied sentence lengths, particularly short sentences cater to the needs of young children as it resembles the form a child takes when speaking. The story is written in first person, from the point of view of the main character; a young girl who eagerly awaits for the return of her father from his duties in the war.
Not 100% sure of what a war means, or what it is exactly that her father is doing for a whole year, or what the connotations of a year itself are; Suzanne Collins realistically depicts the world from a young child’s perception and mind frame. Full of questions which are typical of children, and imaginations running wild; another feature of children’s personalities, Collins also presents a few pages without text. Instead they are filled with the young girl’s dreams, thoughts and creative imagination.
Adult readers can infer the humour posed in the postcards sent from Suzy's father, and a lot of Vietnamese children may actually be aware of the war due to their own parents or relatives. The themes running throughout the book are places and feelings. The storyline develops within increments of time; a year altogether and children can visualise the events taking place in that time.
A great story to be read aloud to year one and two children, who will notice that the characters are coloured with their very own skin complexions, allowing the theme of equality to be promoted.
December 3, 2013
An autobiographical picture book of Suzanne Collins depicting her early childhood experience when her father goes to war in Vietnam. This book is extremely serious in nature. Throughout the entire book the mood is tense and depressing. The only light-hearted element in the book is anecdotes and illustrations of Rascal the cat. He is adorable! As you flip through the pages the emotional level keeps raising all the way to the end. Although there is some bits of comical relief here and there is it immediately followed up by tense moments.
On the positive side the illustration are done very well. Primary colours is used and makes all the characters distinct and unique. The monochromatic background in the dream scenes create a wonderful contrast and evokes powerful feelings. The expressions on the character's faces clear illustrates their feelings; at times it makes you feel depressed too.
I would not recommend reading this book as a bedtime story or any attempts at entertaining your child. It may be good for those people who have had similar experiences and want to explain certain aspects of war however. I believe that this book is mostly aimed at Collins fans who want to know a little more about her. I see it as a marketing plan to add to the success of the Hunger Games series rather than a picture book designed for children.
On the positive side the illustration are done very well. Primary colours is used and makes all the characters distinct and unique. The monochromatic background in the dream scenes create a wonderful contrast and evokes powerful feelings. The expressions on the character's faces clear illustrates their feelings; at times it makes you feel depressed too.
I would not recommend reading this book as a bedtime story or any attempts at entertaining your child. It may be good for those people who have had similar experiences and want to explain certain aspects of war however. I believe that this book is mostly aimed at Collins fans who want to know a little more about her. I see it as a marketing plan to add to the success of the Hunger Games series rather than a picture book designed for children.
September 25, 2013
As a fan of Collin's complex, intense and interesting writing for young adults, I was excited to hear that she had written a children's picture book, but then was quickly disappointed when I read it and found that it does not live up her other works. Like other authors of novels who try their hand at writing picture books, she attempts to write from the perspective of her child-self, which turns her typically beautiful prose flat. The story centers around Collins' own history about when she was a young girl and spent a year without her father who has left for war. There are some elements that work well in this story - like the protagonist constantly trying to figure out how much time amounts into a year, understanding the cues of fear she sees from the adults around her, and describing the subtle changes she notices both in her father's postcards and in his body and spirit when he comes home.
The illustrations are also disappointing to me: cartoon-like and bright, they do lessen the serious tone of the book, but in doing so, they also take away what could have been quite a moving and lovely story. I would have loved to see more depth in the visual design and in the story itself.
The illustrations are also disappointing to me: cartoon-like and bright, they do lessen the serious tone of the book, but in doing so, they also take away what could have been quite a moving and lovely story. I would have loved to see more depth in the visual design and in the story itself.
September 29, 2013
When I first read about this book and saw the cover art, I thought the subject and the illustrative style were at odds. The cartoon-like simplicity of the artist did not seem a good fit with the admittedly heavy subject matter. I ordered the title anyway because I have great faith in the author, and knew she must have had some say in the illustrations, so I reserved further judgment. I am glad that's the road I chose.
Based on Collin's own history, this is a tale of a young girl and the year her father went off to fight in Vietnam. Focusing on her first grade year, the reader's understanding expands as young Suzy's understanding expands throughout the year. Beginning with a view of the jungle based on her schema of a Saturday morning cartoon show and traveling to the evening she first sees the war on the evening news on a TV set someone forgot to shut off, we watch the understanding dawn - and feel the pain that accompanies the realization of where her dad is and what he is most likely doing.
An excellent book to teach all kinds of lessons - not the least of which being how to tell children about war.
Based on Collin's own history, this is a tale of a young girl and the year her father went off to fight in Vietnam. Focusing on her first grade year, the reader's understanding expands as young Suzy's understanding expands throughout the year. Beginning with a view of the jungle based on her schema of a Saturday morning cartoon show and traveling to the evening she first sees the war on the evening news on a TV set someone forgot to shut off, we watch the understanding dawn - and feel the pain that accompanies the realization of where her dad is and what he is most likely doing.
An excellent book to teach all kinds of lessons - not the least of which being how to tell children about war.
October 30, 2013
Suzanne Collins, best known for writing the Hunger Games series, recounts the year her father was deployed to Vietnam. The year is measured in postcards and the passing of holidays. The text is moving and careful, each word well chosen, each memory vivid and ripe with emotion.
Ink and Corel Painter illustrations. I liked the way the artwork zoomed in and out of the flow of this story. The wordless jungle scenes really helped the reader feel the emotional impact of the passing of time and the growth of the main character as she adjusts to the time spent away from her parent.
This is a must read and a book that will give kids who have to spend time away from a parent for a certain or uncertain amount of time a little comfort. I appreciated the historical look back at the Vietnam era from a kid's point of view, but the emphasis is on the emotional impact of that time as opposed to the era itself which make the story a bit more timeless and lasting. PreK-2+ (wide age range possibilities here).
Ink and Corel Painter illustrations. I liked the way the artwork zoomed in and out of the flow of this story. The wordless jungle scenes really helped the reader feel the emotional impact of the passing of time and the growth of the main character as she adjusts to the time spent away from her parent.
This is a must read and a book that will give kids who have to spend time away from a parent for a certain or uncertain amount of time a little comfort. I appreciated the historical look back at the Vietnam era from a kid's point of view, but the emphasis is on the emotional impact of that time as opposed to the era itself which make the story a bit more timeless and lasting. PreK-2+ (wide age range possibilities here).
December 15, 2015
Based on the author's childhood, this book relates the story of one year in a little girl's life-- the year when her father was stationed in Vietnam during the war. She can't read, and her mother keeps her from seeing news and pictures of what is really going on there, but eventually Suzy finds out and is, of course, scared. She worries that her father won't come home, especially when he stops sending her postcards. Her fears are depicted in dark-colored two-page spreads. As the holidays and their accompanying activities pass, her anxiety becomes more acute, until...
Rachel the cat, of course, is my favorite character. Love how she's drawn. The story ends as it began, which nicely brings events full circle and provides reassurance to children that life can return to normal again. Highly recommended for any child whose parent is stationed overseas.
Rachel the cat, of course, is my favorite character. Love how she's drawn. The story ends as it began, which nicely brings events full circle and provides reassurance to children that life can return to normal again. Highly recommended for any child whose parent is stationed overseas.
September 27, 2013
Suzy's daddy is in Vietnam. He's going to be there for a whole year. He sends her postcards to let her know he's thinking of her. One month, she doesn't get a postcard, and Suzy starts to worry about Daddy.
A large portion of our student body is made of military kids, as we are less than a mile from Tinker Air Force Base. So many of our kids know what deployment is, and a lot of them are waiting right this minute for their mother or father to come home from war. It's real to our kids, even if they don't understand exactly what war means. Suzy's thinking here is so simple yet so absolutely on-target for a first-grader. As a matter of personal preference, I really don't care for this illustration style, but that means nothing compared to the message, and I want this book for my library. Our kids are living it.
A large portion of our student body is made of military kids, as we are less than a mile from Tinker Air Force Base. So many of our kids know what deployment is, and a lot of them are waiting right this minute for their mother or father to come home from war. It's real to our kids, even if they don't understand exactly what war means. Suzy's thinking here is so simple yet so absolutely on-target for a first-grader. As a matter of personal preference, I really don't care for this illustration style, but that means nothing compared to the message, and I want this book for my library. Our kids are living it.
October 8, 2013
Suzy's first grade year is hard since her father has been deployed to Vietnam. At first, his postcards help her feel connected to him, but as they come less and less frequently and he mixes up her birthday with her sister's, Suzy starts worrying and wondering if he will ever come home again. The text and the illustrations, created with ink and Corel Painter, effectively tell the story of separation from a loved one, especially difficult during times of war. I love how her father reads Ogden Nash to her and how he always includes the family cat, Rascal. The effect of his time overseas is not sugar-coated, but the author does not go into detail about what happened to him while he was serving. Clearly, war takes a toll on those who serve and those they leave behind.
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September 8, 2014Can you give a book zero stars? This book was mistakenly pulled off the shelf from the library on our last visit. I guess I should have looked at it a little closer before bringing it home. This is in no way meant for a child of 5 or 3 to have read to them!! Why this is a children's book is beyond me. I am not insensitive to the fact that there are millions of children out there with parents in the military, however, this is not meant for them or anyone else. If you want to write a book about your traumatic experience when your father went to fight in the Vietnam War (in 1969!) then you should write a book for adults. I think this book is completely inappropriate for it's suggested age group!!
January 25, 2016
I read this while visiting friends. It is a memoir of the author's when she was little and her father went to the Vietnam war. She was trying to keep track of a year of time while he is gone. It was sweet and a great perspective for adults to understand how some younger kids perceive parents serving in a war. All the adults keep saying how sorry they are yet she doesn't understand what's going on in Vietnam until close to when her father returns and she happens to see a news broadcast on TV. I really liked how the author worded her father's return and his behavior on his return.
If you're looking for a way to share with little ones about parents or family in the service check this out and see what you think.
Happy Reading!!!
If you're looking for a way to share with little ones about parents or family in the service check this out and see what you think.
Happy Reading!!!
May 10, 2014
this is an excellent book, especially if a child is actually living, or has lived the same situation as Suzy, with her father deployed to Viet Nam for a year when she was just 6. The illustrations do a great job of showing us what went on in Suzy's dreams and are whimsical so as to balance the seriousness of the subject matter. It's quite a poignant book, masterfully drawing the tear by tying the end back to the beginning, when Suzy tells how her father likes to read her Ogden Nash poems, one in particular about courage, but the significance has changed dramatically by the year inbetween.
June 2, 2013
This is not just a picture book. It's a sort of illustrated memoir from Suzanne Collins about when her father was sent of to the Vietnam war in 1968 and how her understanding of it changed as she grew up. It's quite powerful being from the child's perspective. This is a great book for kids, but also for anyone who knows anyone who was sent off the fight not just in Vietnam but in any war.
January 6, 2015
YEAR OF THE JUNGLE is serious subject matter. Young Suzanne Collins' father has been called to war in Viet Nam. Readers follow Suzzane through her year without him as she struggles to understand where her father is and when he is coming back. Some things change and some things stay the same during his absence and the same is true after his return.
"How long is a year? A year is long."
"How long is a year? A year is long."
July 1, 2013
When I saw at the ALA Conference that Suzanne Collins wrote a children's book I was like...what? However, it is a very honest and endearing story based on her own childhood. The illustrations from James Proimos were nicely done.
January 25, 2016
I very seldom review or record that I have read children's book, because I read so many of them, but every once and a while I read one that really sticks with me. This was one of them. Thanks for handling this subject and make it suitable for everyone.
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