First Impressions: Jacob’s Missing Book
Dani Glass
When I first heard about Jacob’s Missing Book – long before I actually read it – my jaw dropped. Not in a figurative way, but in an overly-dramatic, comedic-level, shocked disbelief type of way. I simply couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They’re writing a book for kids…about banned books…referencing a children’s book that has ACTUALLY been banned!? What absolute GUTS they have! And my second thought: What is going to happen to them? What hate are they going to receive? Could this be, like…dangerous for them?
I knew I loved it before I read it. Normally I wouldn’t say something like that; I fully believe in seeing/reading/watching something with my own eyes before singing its praises. But I knew enough; I knew enough about Sarah and Ian Hoffman as people, having interviewed them for PLP and having seen their generosity when it came to supporting PLP. I had read their other Jacob books, which not only make clear what they stand for but also speak to what they believe about children: that children are deeply empathetic and kind, and more than capable of understanding the nuances of identity.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. And when it arrived, I ripped open the packaging like a child and sat down with it. It lived up to every expectation I’d had. A brief summary: One of Jacob’s friends has two dads, and another friend has some questions about that. In response, Jacob goes to find “the penguin book” – clearly referencing And Tango Makes Three (a children’s book about the gay penguin couple at the Central Park Zoo who adopted an orphaned egg) but without explicitly naming it. But when Jacob gets to the library, he can’t find it. The librarian simply confirms that it’s missing, but his teacher is more forthcoming. She tells Jacob and his friends that some people don’t like some of the books in their school, and while the grownups try to figure out how to handle that challenge, they can’t read it at school. The children don’t let that stop them, and they take to the playgrounds to play out the story of the baby penguin with two dads.
There are so many reasons why I love and respect this book and its authors:
Simply speaking, the courage it took to write, illustrate, and publish Jacob’s Missing Book is remarkable. I have so much admiration for the authors to not only come up with the idea, but to write it so clearly and age-appropriately.
Jacob shows so much trust in children, and in the parents and educators who choose to read this book to their children. The authors trust the adults to have honest conversations with children, and they trust children’s ability to receive this honesty.
The relationships between children, and between adults and children are interesting and deep. Clearly they care about one another; the desire for empathy and connectedness is what drives the plot!
Young children process through play, and the story of Jacob’s Missing Book provides a perfect example. When Jacob and his friends can’t find the book to show to their friend, they simply “play it out” instead, which arguably leads to even deeper learning.
On that note, this book shows that the banning of books and the attempt to block education about any given topic absolutely does not stop the learning from happening. It simply encourages us to discover other paths for learning.
The illustrations are inviting and captivating; the children they show are diverse and they are engaged in collaborative learning.
The last thing I will say, and it is one of the most powerful – is that the children in this book have agency. Jacob doesn’t simply give up when he finds that the book is gone for the time being; he simply finds a way. Emily, the child who has two dads, stands up for herself and her family when it’s implied that some people don’t like the penguin book. Noah, the child who has questions about Emily’s family, engages in conversation and play in order to learn and gain understanding about his friend. The children in the class all work together to explore the power behind their thoughts and their actions; they discover that they don’t actually need the book to explain what having two dads is like; they have their imaginations and they have each other. They may be children, but they take their education into their own hands. They use their agency to construct knowledge together – and no one can take that away from them.
Jacob’s Missing Book is a beautiful and courageous piece of children’s literature that I love more and more every time I come back to it. All I can hope for is a day when we don’t need it.
