Jakub’s Otter by Coral Rumble – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: responsibilities, holiday, friendship, wildlife, poetry .
Children’s book title: Jakub’s Otter.
Children’s author: Coral Rumble.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Troika Books.
ISBN: 9781912745333.
Recommended for children aged: 8+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback September 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: opening discussions on a range of subjects that children, as well as adults, often find difficult to face, even though they are quite common. These include cultural differences, the seemingly harsh realities of the animal kingdom, the responsibilities of young carers, and the challenges of shifting the mindset of those whose time is rarely their own.
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Our review:
Jakub Polanski, pronounced YAH-kup, is going on holiday to Italy – and he’s not happy about it! His mum, Maria, has MS, and it’s his job to make sure she has everything she needs. He helps her get up in the morning and go to bed at night, prepares all the meals, and does the shopping and cleaning. How will she manage without him? True, Auntie Anna has come over from Poland to take on all Jakub’s responsibilities for the next month, but will she do things the way he does, the way Mum is used to? Will she even be better at it than him?
Jakub’s responsibilities mean he doesn’t have a social life, but now he’s expected to spend a whole month with his mum’s friends, the Koniks, including their daughter Marta, whom he doesn’t like! He is surprised by how much he enjoys his new surroundings, and when the Konik family’s friend, Signor Mancini, offers to show him the forest, Jakub jumps at the chance. While there, he encounters an otter who becomes very special to him and Marta.
As the month passes, Jakub finds that the holiday and its new experiences gradually change his outlook. Piccolo, the otter, is pregnant, which is both worrying and exciting! Marta has a cat who likes to spend the early mornings in Jakub’s room – another first for him – and there is no set routine to follow, which feels completely alien to him. Gradually, though, as he gets to know Marta and her family, he begins to understand what holidays are for, and he starts to relax. He might even realise that joining in doesn’t mean letting anyone down!
Our verdict:
Jakub’s Otter is a lovely book that tells an all-too-common, sad story in a way that is uplifting rather than depressing or preachy. Jakub, a young carer, has the sole responsibility of looking after his mum. He can’t attend after-school activities or meet up with friends, and instead, his head is full of hospital appointments, medication schedules, and other adult worries that set him apart from his classmates. He is so burdened by these grown-up concerns that other children his age, like Marta, seem to him both childish and very annoying.
The change of scene and the presence of Marta and Signor Mancini are catalysts for him to start looking objectively at his life and what is expected of him. The otter, Piccolo, who has been injured, provides the almost cathartic responsibility Jakub needs while he is away from his mum. Throughout the story, at the end of each chapter, there is a poem written by Marta. These poems give a different perspective on what is happening and reveal as much about Marta as the rest of the story does about Jakub.
By the end of the holiday, everyone is looking forward to returning the following year, and Jakub might even be able to bring his mum and Auntie Anna with him.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Jakub has a difficult life and doesn’t have time for the fun activities his classmates take part in. Why does he feel guilty at the beginning of his holiday, and how does that change? He is also a bit worried that his aunt might replace him; how does this change, and why?
- Marta completes her journal in verse. Do you think Jakub was right to be so upset about the poem she wrote about him?
- Piccolo has three cubs, but one doesn’t survive. How do Signor Mancini, Jakub, and Marta cope with the death? What does ‘survival of the fittest’ mean in this context, and what difference will it make to the remaining cubs?
- The landscape and wildlife in Italy are very different from those in the UK. Cross-curricular activities could focus on the earthquakes Marta mentions and the animals Jakub and Signor Mancini encounter, as well as those they don’t! What other differences might Jakub have noticed on his first visit?
- Free resources.
Many thanks to Troika Books for the review copy.
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