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I “screen selected” this moment from the most recent Jigsaw Jones title, The Case of the Hat Burglar. It’s the first time in the series that Jigsaw and Mila had a conflict, a painful misunderstanding, and it stabs at my heart a little.
Appreciate the way R.W. Alley decided to illustrate that scene, from outside the window, the darkness and light, Jigsaw’s features obscured. R.W. conveys a lot of emotion with deceptive simplicity and careful choices. That’s the artist’s skill and craft and sensitivity. Meanwhile, I just sit off to the side, hoping for the best.
Readers enjoy the codes in the books. Here we find Jigsaw at the final stage of solving a space code. The next move is his.
I am grateful for all the classrooms that have bins of Jigsaw Jones books. Usually the books are old, battered, torn, well-read. I do suspect that teachers might not realize that there are 2 all-new books, plus 12 older titles that have been revised, updated and available for the first time in years. All from Macmillan. Even the books themselves are slightly larger than the original editions: cleaner, fresher. I hope teachers and parents — and, naturally, kids, too — will find and enjoy these books. I’m awfully fond of them!
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