A Giant Mess

Gr 1-3–Molly’s mom implores her to clean up her bedroom, but just as the little girl protests, they get an unexpected visit from an equally messy Jack the Giant, a barefoot, green-skinned child with jug ears and a fuzzy caterpillar unibrow. As the massive toddler wreaks havoc on Molly’s town, it’s up to her to teach him the value in picking up one’s toys, which in Jack’s case happen to be freight trains and townspeople. Ebbeler showcases an imaginative and delightfully chaotic spread in comic form. Each panel will captivate young readers, depicting Molly and Jack’s adventures from different angles and inspired perspectives. The artist’s clever layout and descriptive text (“Boom! Crack!”) provide a colorful landscape for beginning readers to devour. Molly and her mother are white, but Ebbeler depicts townspeople in a variety of skin tones.