Review of Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero

Authors

Rachel Crane, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Publisher

G.P. Putnam’s Sons

City

New York, New York, United States of America

Date of Publication

2022

ISBN

9780593326374

Date of Review

2023

Disciplines

Library and Information Science | Modern Literature

Keywords

Children's literature, reviews, emotions

Review

Marcero focuses on a rabbit named Llewellyn, who loves all things scary yet doesn’t like feeling scared. His fear keeps returning to him, so he puts it in a jar and locks it in a closet. Llewellyn feels fine for a time, but then experiences sadness, so he locks that emotion away as well. Next follows excitement, then anger, then loneliness, then joy, then disappointment. “And that was that,” Marcero writes. With every emotion locked away, Llewellyn feels nothing. One day, when trying to hide his embarrassment, Llewellyn finds that his other buried emotions have taken up all the closet space. As he shoves the embarrassment jar into the closet, the others shatter and escape—fear leaves last. The relief Llewellyn feels enables him to share and face his emotions. The illustrations are the highlight of the book. Marcero begins by depicting Llewellyn with colorful clothing, then gray dominates as he bottles more emotions away. As the emotions escape, the color reappears in Llewellyn’s clothes. Marcero’s use of color conveys the theme well, and complements the words as well. Parents may enjoy reading and showing this story to their 5-9-year-olds.

Recommended Rachel Crane, Centennial Library Intern, Cedarville University

Recommended Citation

Crane, Rachel, "Review of Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero" (2023). Library Intern Book Reviews. 355.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/intern_book_reviews/355

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