Outside in World | Browse Books

Use our Book Finder to search for books by Title (or part of the title), Author, ISBN, Age Range, Keyword, or Continent/Country. Then simply click the magnifying glass to start your search.

If a title starts with 'The', leave this out as this is added to the end of the title in brackets. funny pictures funny images funny photos really funny pictures

‘We need the literature of other countries to expand our
horizons and stimulate our ideas. Without it, we are not only
diminished, we are starved’
(The Times, Magnus Linklater 29/06/05)

Please email us to sign up to our Newsletter

Jacob's Fantastic Flight by Philip Waechter

Title: Jacob's Fantastic Flight

Author: Philip Waechter

Translator: Elizabeth Lauffer

Illustrator:

Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press (USA)

Date Published: 2020

Format: Hardback

Genre:

Book Category: Picture Book

Age Range: 6-8

Original Title: First published in German as Der fleigende Jakob, Beltz & Gelberg, Germany, 2012

Country of Origin: Germany

Jacob's Fantastic Flight

by Philip Waechter
Age Range: 6-8

If you had a superpower, what would it be? What would you use it for? If you had healing powers, would you take a trip to the hospital to help the patients? If you could read minds, would you use that power to be more empathetic and understand other people’s needs? If you had super speed, would you do double your household chores? Since Jacob was a baby, he could fly. “His parents were actually hoping he would finally start crawling, but he never got around to it. He just flew off instead.” Jacob originally intended to use his flying powers to forgo taking the plane on a family vacation, but he ends up using his powers to help a bird in need.

Jacob’s Fantastic Flight is illustrated and written in German by Philip Waechter, as well as translated into English by Elizabeth Lauffer. Jacob and his family almost resemble the characters in the 1959 French children’s book series, Le Petit Nicolas, with little bodies and prominent noses. Waechter illustrated Jacob, his family, the bird friends, and the magical setting with Japanese ink and crayons.

When Jacob flies to his family’s vacation spot, he flies amongst the birds. The heart of the story is Jacob’s benevolence, saving the missing bird Hubert from a bird-catcher. If you were Jacob, would you put a pause on your flying adventure to help save Hubert?

Catherine Hurwitz (May22)

Jacob is no ordinary boy, he can fly! When he was a baby, his parents wanted him to crawl like any other child but he surprised them by flying instead. Gradually, his parents accepted the situation and got used to seeing their son flying high up in the sky as they loved him just the way he was.

One winter, when Jakob’s family fly by plane to the Mediterranean for a holiday, he decides to fly off on his own. On his journey, he encounters eighty-three birds on their way to Africa and decides to join them. But then something terrible happened: Mr Mortar, a notorious bird-catcher, is up to no good and in no time one of the little birds blundered into his nest. Now Jacob finds himself involved in a very important mission: the rescue of his missing friend!

This is an exceptional picture book written and illustrated by Philip Waechter who is a celebrated children's author and illustrator from Frankfurt in Germany. His delicate and colourful illustrations depicting people, animals and places are very original and appealing. He has also illustrated The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde which was published in the UK by Alma Publishers in 2015 and, This is Me, a picture book published by Hutchinson in 2005. The translation by Elisabeth Lauffer is accomplished as the story reads beautifully in English. Blue Dot Kid Press’ mission is to produce books that engage a young reader’s innate sense of wonder and empathy, connecting them to our global community. This is the perfect picture book for sharing and reading aloud.

Edgardo Zaghini (May22)