Genius is as genius does.

kw: book reviews, science fiction, juvenile literature, humor

My favorite comics character, Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes, lives in his imagination. A bundle of close second places, for the same reason, includes Snoopy and Garfield. Here is a delightful book for grade schoolers that really blurs the border between imagination and reality. I guess Frank Asch, author of Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius, remembers his childhood better than most!

Alex, bugged by his (evil) little brother Jonathan, devises a plan to escape to the other end of the universe. Getting boxes and building his Star Jumper isn't much problem: with his plastic bins of useful stuff, and a bit of rummaging in the attic, he finishes by midafternoon. He'd be done even quicker, without Jonathan's 'help'.

But he needs a space suit, which takes a bit more time, and an Atom Shifter so he can get Star Jumper outside without opening a window. Halfway to the moon, he realizes he'll need a defense system, so he returns, and the fun just gets more fun.

The author does his own illustrating, and I must say the journal pages beat my own all hollow!