Lucky Jake

by Sharon Hart Addy, Wade Zahares (Illustrator)

When Jake and Pa find a gold nugget big enough to buy a pet, there aren’t any dogs to be found. And so Jake gets a . . . pig (“four legs, floppy ears, and a tail”), and he names him Dog.

Lucky for Pa and Jake, Dog has a nose for finding good fortune. And where luck grows like a cornstalk—tall and golden and strong—Dog and Jake are sure to be found, ready for whatever comes next.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Animals, Childrens, Juvenile

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2007

Reviews

[Abby Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting of the book is revealed to the reader early in the book on the front inside cover. The picture depicts the trails and creeks that miners used during the Gold Rush era in California. The setting is also mentioned on the beginning page; on this page, the book depicted the houses the miners lived in and mentioned that he and his father are in Crystal Creek mining for Gold. The plot is affected by the setting because this is where the a lot of mining happened. The plot couldn't be in Louisiana because mining was not a thing in that area, so it would not make sense this is why the setting has to match greatly with the plot. The plot is not that exciting; it sort of just tells a story about a young boy who was born into a mining family with his father. He gets a pet pig and grows some corn for pig food. Eventually, he finds a goat who was eating his corn and takes it in as a pet. He then had goat milk and corn, so the people wanted to trade for these items. He eventually made a food restaurant and store for the people. The setting matters in this part of the story also because they are in a mining community doing something so different than the others, but it is successful because they were the only place like that in the area they were in.

[Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucky Jake is about a boy and his father who are poor but found a nugget of gold. They decoded they wanted to buy a dog with their nugget of gold and instead found a pig that nudged the boy to plant crops of corn. The corn took off and the family was able to create a trading post and live with plenty of food and a warm shelter. The father in the story works really hard for the family but was having a hard time making ends meet. The little boy Jake wanted to be of help to his father so he planted seeds so that they had something to support the family with. The pig in the story named dog helped keep the little boy company and was the motivation to plant the corn in the first place. The illustrations were really abstract with a lot of color which draws your eye across the page. I think this is a good book for little kids because it is an easily understood book that shows students that they can see themselves work hard to achieve a higher purpose. This book clearly shows a progression of a family who had nothing, work very hard to create a life for themselves.

[Rani · Rating 3 out of 5]

#Goldrush #YoungReaders #PictureBook #BookReview #ChildrensBooks #amreading #Jobs #pets #Cooking When Jake and his dad find a gold nugget, their story turns unusual.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet.

[Alice Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little ingenuity and hard work help this "lucky" family get by on the western frontier.

[MissDziura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lucky Jake is a book written for young readers that takes place during the gold rush era. Jake wants a dog desparately, but settles for a pet pig he names "dog," instead. As Jake and Dog travel further West with Jake's prospector father they encounter other animals, and some corn which is made into corn fritters. Jake's father realizes that his corn fritters are popular and opens up a little resturant to serve the other prospectors in the area. He constantly states how lucky he is, and the reader is supposed to understand that it is because of Jack that he is lucky, but it is very unclear. At the end, instead of being happy with the new life that has been carved out for them, Jack's dad exclaims that next year they are back to finding gold. Overall the main theme of the book is confusing and it is hard to figure out if the story is about Jack and his pig, dog or about Jack and his father. The only redeeming quality of the book were the vibrant illustrations that were almost all like shadows created in bold colors.

[Lana Harriman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal reflection – This book takes the reader on an unexpected journey through the life of a young boy and his pet pig, named dog. Ironically this young boy, Jake, his pig, Dog, and his Pa are seemingly down on their luck. But Jake finds the positive in everything. His finds something everyday to be thankful for and says something like, “that was lucky”. The moral of the story is that big things can come in small packages and that we should be grateful for all we have.

Purpose – Read aloud or read-to-self (1st – 2nd grade level)
Curriculum – This book could be read aloud when perhaps a child in class thinks that life isn’t fair. The book does a nice job of showing that we can be thankful for the tiniest things, like a kernel of corn or a runty pig. No matter what, we can’t ever give up! You just never know what sort of luck we might run into esp. if we have a good attitude. This book would make for a unique choice of reading come spring planting time too.

[Borchers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book to read with young readers. Kids loved to always add their version of, "YUP LUCKY!"
Funny how it reminded me people from my past.

[Alice]

California Gold Rush

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly a cumulative story, but the same refrain that was lucky!. Not exactly historical fiction, but this is about gold miners.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was absolutely nothing about this book that held my interest. The illustrations were ok, I loved the contrast, but the storyline couldn't even boost that rating for me.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shows that luck is a combination of using what you have and working hard.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longer than most JE's I've read. But a cute story about luck vs. work and thinking outside of the box.