We Became Jaguars

by Dave Eggers, Woodrow White (Illustrator)

Overview

Revel in the breathtaking fantasticality of We Became Jaguars—a picture book from bestselling author Dave Eggers.

When Grandma comes to visit and a young boy's parents leave, the rules of the house—and the world—change: grandson and grandmother transform into jaguars! Readers follow their journey into the undiscovered world of nature, experience true freedom, and lose themselves in an exhilarating adventure. After a day of playing, running, and climbing through sumptuous landscapes, the ending will leave you wondering what's real and what's imagined.

• A captivating, unusual story about a child and his grandmother
• Full of lush illustrations of the natural world
• Celebrates the power of love and storytelling

Breathtaking and bold, We Became Jaguars is sure to give readers beautiful dreams.

• Children's books for kids age 5–8
• Perfect for fans of Dave Eggers
• Great for environmentally conscious families

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452184180
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	44
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the author of many books, including Her Right Foot, The Circle, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. He is the cofounder of Voice of Witness, 826 National, and ScholarMatch, which connects donors and under-resourced students to make college possible. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Woodrow White is a painter, freelance illustrator, and maker of short films. This is his first book. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/11/2021

From the minute the child narrator’s slim, stylish grandmother arrives for a visit (“Her hair was very white/ and very, very long”) and his parents leave, she’s ready for some serious make believe. “Let’s be jaguars,” she says, growling on all fours on the rug. The boy tries to follow suit: “No, leaner,” she tells him. “Now faster.” In spreads by artist White, making his picture book debut, the two morph into real jaguars, sprinting gracefully through the woods and to lands beyond. The child is simultaneously cowed and enthralled by the grandmother’s wildness. When she offers a rabbit that she’s just killed, “I didn’t want to eat raw rabbit so I said I was allergic.” When he expresses doubt that they can run across a lake, she counsels perfect confidence, and she’s right: “We bounced across like marbles on glass.” Working in milky shades, White succeeds in making the duo readable in the faces and bodies of the two cats. 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. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"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

"[We Became Jaguars is] a wondrous, breathtakingly painted night of bonding and adventure."-The New York Times

"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 

“Clever.”-The Wall Street Journal

"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

"[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

From the Publisher

12/04/2020

K-Gr 2—A young boy is visited by his grandmother. When she suggests they be jaguars, the boy gives her his best jaguar impersonation: crawling on all fours, as elegantly as possible. The boy and his grandmother scurry around the living room and suddenly find themselves in a lush jungle. For the remainder of the book, they are portrayed as sleek jungle cats. Is this real, or in their imagination? Eggers not only transmogrifies his characters into jaguars, he also uses the word "jaguar" as both noun and verb with the repeated refrain: "We jaguared on." This playfulness isn't restricted to language. White's illustrations are spirited and clever. The surreal transformation from human to jaguar is sumptuously depicted on a stunning gatefold. Later, when the jaguars drink from a cool stream, their human faces appear in the water's rippled surface. White's color palette is beautiful. The two explore the world from evening to daylight to sunset. At night, the jaguars glow green in the midst of the dark jungle, purple like a velvet painting. In the mountains, their fur reflects the warmth of the setting sun. Eventually the child must return to the real world. School awaits. He leaves a realm of imagination that is so fantastic it feels real, or so real that it feels fantastic? VERDICT A must-have tale about the power of imagination.—Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill P.L., MA

School Library Journal

★ 2021-01-13
Left alone together, a small child and their grandmother transform into jaguars, walking on all fours on the carpet and then out into the night.

The grandmother, with her “very, very long” white hair, dark brows, crimson nails, and spotted cardigan, appears game for anything wild. The child has met her only once, and her bold demeanor will intrigue children used to benign literary grandmothers who dole out cookies and cuddles. This grandmother directs the child to look “leaner” and “fiercer” as they make the shape of a jaguar on the floor alongside her. “Now we go,” she states flatly. A clever gatefold shows the pair’s metamorphosis from white-skinned humans to furry felines stalking through night grasses. Transfixing painterly illustrations offer nocturnal purples and blues along with bioluminescent pinks and greens, creating a woozy, otherworldly habitat. The little jaguar seems a bit scared at first, tremulous, turning down raw rabbit by claiming an allergy. Young people will find humor in the child’s narration, perhaps especially when they relate that “we were somewhere in the Himalayas when I remembered that I had school.” 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. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews