To be quite honest, this one did not impact me in the way other children's books have before. But I relate to what the story, to the need to feel accepted especially when you are 'different'. What I surprisingly did like more here were the illustrations - a style departing from the usual we come across in children's books.

I found the writing style to be simplistic; however it conveyed the message and the meaning of the story effectively. The illustrations were minimal; there was an abundance of white space on the page which was spread out. I gave this book a 3/5, I appreciated this story and the meaning behind it. However I felt like it ended too abruptly, I wanted more; maybe it was too simple for my tastes.

In this beautifully done picture books shows a boy's first day of school and the uncertainty of recess. Not knowing who to play with the reader gets to see the different groups on the playground. Finally, becoming brave enough he asks if he anyone's wants to play with him. The illustrations and the design of the pages are so simple and clean but somehow have so much detail. This book would be perfect for 5 - 9 year olds.

David Jumps In is a story about making new friends.

David is new at his school, and he doesn't know anyone. All-day, he yearns for a friend. By recess time, the yearning is consuming his time outside.

David wonders the playground in search of a place where he belongs. He passes the kids on the swings, the hide-and-seek players, the readers, and the soccer players. Finally, David comes upon a group of kids playing hopscotch. He decides to invite these kids to play a came of elastic skips. The kids agree and join in on David's fun new game.

Quickly, the game grabs the attention of lots of kids on the playground. David has found a new group of friends, and together they enjoy playing elastic skip with everyone.

David Jumps In is a universal story that all kids can enjoy. It is about the challenge of being new and meeting friends. At some point in life, all kids are going to experience what it is like to be new somewhere.

The illustrations in David Jumps In are airy and light. I loved the gentle pictures that tied in with the sweet message of this story.

OMG I have not played elastic skip in so long. It wasn’t a thing in state side schools (military brat here). To see a kid who hope someone will play with him so they can pass the game on…. So sweet. All around a pretty sweet book with illustrations to match.
#LitsyAtoZChildrens

I wasn't crazy about this one. The writing was simple, as were the illustrations - which doesn't bother me but my kids weren't very engaged.

How do you make friends at a new school?

In this book, David has his rubber band toy, for playing "elastic skip" which we knew, in our day, as Chinese Jumprope.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5522" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/chinese-jumproad.png" alt="" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5521" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/chinese-jumproap.png" alt="" />

That is the whole story, really. We have David feeling lonely, then looking for others to play with him.

Then they do, with his elastic skip game, and all is good.

The pictures are rather dull, and not engaging. The story is ok, but not exciting.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A sweet story about a young Chinese boy who wants to find his place and friends in his new school. He plays a game called elastic skip with some children and makes new friends.

Simple the writing and illustrations were simple. I thought the way David was often lightly highlighted among the other pastels was beautiful. .

Aside from adding a bit of nostalgia to my day, this book didn't really do much for me. The premise is okay, but the illustrations--while done with an interesting technique--aren't that engaging and the writing is just plain annoying. "Free verse" is one thing... but the text in this just looks like it couldn't be bothered to use proper grammar and punctuation:

When the recess bell rang,
The kids raced into sunshine,
Clamoring for first place
At the swings, slides
And monkey bars.

Trying to turn this into a free-verse picture book was unnecessary; the text would've been fine written as straight prose.

The game the kids play in this book brought back memories. We called it Chinese jumprope, and the huge elastic was part of our playground arsenal (along with regular jumpropes, marbles, and paper fortune tellers). I don't know if kids today still play "elastic skip" (as it's called in the book), but parents who were children a few decades ago will likely get a kick out of seeing one of their beloved childhood games depicted here.

I thought that the images in this book were lovely and really in keeping with the story.

The book is about a young boy David who has started at a new school and is worried about not having any friends, or people to play with.

I liked the ending of the story and how he needn't have worried and does make the friends he wanted too, it is a feel good story and will be useful for other children in the same situation to read.

It is 4 stars from me for this one - highly recommended

This is a really lovely story about David, who is new to the school and unsure about how to join in in the playground. He has his elastic bands in his pocket but isn't sure if anyone will want to play with him, so goes around the playground looking at the different children doing their different things, until he spots some children who have become bored and plucks up the courage to ask if they want to play.

The illustrations in this book are great and cleverly show hiw David is feeling, alone in the busy playground.

I also really liked the Author's Note at the end, giving a bit more information about the origins of David's game and directions to the author's website, where there are resources for anyone who would like to learn how to play too.

Hmmm… I guess this conveys the tense time when you're new in town/school/the club and you don't know if you have what it takes to be accepted. But it didn't really do much else for me. I'd be left wondering why he was the only kid who knew anything about his activity, but kudos to the characters who asked about it and joined in – long may that kind of character live on in reality.