The New Jumper (The Hueys)

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Why are the other Hueys horrified when Rupert does something different? How do people sometimes feel about new / different things? Why is this? In this story Rupert wants to look different. Can you design a different Huey. Here are two to give you some ideas. I am trying to figure out what I think about this one. Here's sort of the thought process I went through reading it....

Precies zoals in de mensenmaatschappij: de massa is niet direct enthousiast. Je valt buiten de groep als je anders bent of doet. Stiekem is er toch eentje die iets anders eigenlijk best leuk vindt. En als er één Hugo over de spreekwoordelijke dam is, volgen er meer totdat iedereen wéér hetzelfde is. En dan? Weer iets nieuws? En is dat nieuwe nog vernieuwder? Look at the picture of the speaker in the illustrations. Can you try to draw sketches of 3D shapes? Watch / listen to this narration of part of the book. Could you record your own, using expression / music / sound effects? I first read this book a few weeks ago (March 23ish). I had to reread it before writing my review to see if it was as strange as my memory was telling me it was. All of the Hueys looked alike. They also all acted and dressed alike. Until, that is, the day that Rupert knitted a bright new orange sweater and made himself stand out. Some of the other Hueys weren't sure that they approved - didn't Rupert know that they were all supposed to be the same?!? - but his friend Gillespie decided he too wanted a sweater. So began a trend, with all the Hueys jumping on the bandwagon. Soon Rupert had to find a new way to stand out...Een tweede boek van de Hugo’s trekt direct de aandacht door de eenvoud in kleur of juist het opvallende van het oranje op een witte ondergrond. Say hello to the Hueys, a bunch of creatures who look the same, do everything the same, and well, I think you get the gist. :P So I spotted this book at the library (one of them), and I just had to read it. I am a big fan of Oliver Jeffers's work and so I just couldn't resist this one. And boy, it was just too fun to read. On the one hand, I really liked Rupert and his desire to be a nonconformist, think for himself, and do something unique from his peers. On the other hand, I really didn't like that the rest of the Hueys copied him exactly so they all could "be different."

The ending was a fun surprise and I was just shaking my head and saying something along the lines of: "Oh Rupert, no just no." :P Think of different words that can be used to describe Rupert’s new jumper. Can you describe the colours / patterns / texture? Draw a map showing the world in which the Hueys live. What might their houses / streets / towns look like? I think I'd have liked this book better if Rupert or another of the Hueys had realized that by all of them changing in exactly the same ways, they ended up being exactly the same again. And that's where I'm at. Wondering what this book is supposed to be about and thinking it's just pretty funny, and that's all I can lay my finger on. Maybe I need someone less literal than me to explain it to me.... :)

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The Hueys are all the same. Imagine what life would be like if everyone was exactly the same. How would this make you feel? Challenge your friends to do exactly the same task as you (e.g. draw a picture of a dog, write a story about an elephant). Are your pictures / stories exactly the same? Why not? The Hueys don’t have any feet. Can you try to draw your own characters with or without feet? Which do you prefer? Why?

At first we see the Hueys go by their day, from speeches to walking their dogs, to meeting up and more. It seemed kind of boring to me to have everything be the same, but thankfully there is Rupert. Here is a guy who wants to be different, so he decides to knit a sweater. And not just any sweater, oh no, this guy is going for fluorescent orange. The Hueys are a group of pod-like people who look the same, think the same and do the same things. The characters are inspired by Oliver's grandfather who could never remember the names of his numerous grandchildren and so called them all Huey, regardless of gender. ​ What message is being sent to kids in this story? Am I being overly critical and cynical when I say that I think it's telling kids that no one is truly unique and it's pointless to try to be different/yourself? Or perhaps I should lighten up and simply encourage kids to be like Rupert and think outside the box; don't be like society and copy every passing fad. I'm sort of ambivalent about it, but the fact that I'm thinking about it enough to realize my ambivalence - and the reasons for it - makes me give this book an "I liked it" rating of three stars.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Er zijn meerdere prentenboeken met eenzelfde thema waarvan één ook de kleur oranje als hoofdkleur heeft, maar deze Hugo is door het minimalistisch gebruik van kleur en teken, de fijne vertaling, de duidelijke (voorlees)letter, tot aan de schutbladen toe, een absolute aanrader in het onderwerp geloven in jezelf met durf en zelfvertrouwen.

Eén Hugootje, Rupert, breit een nieuwe trui in een opvallende kleur. Hoe zouden de anderen hierop reageren?Thought #8: This is like when you see a group of kids at the mall who have bright blue mohawks and wear it that way because they want to be different but there are, like, 7 of them that look exactly the same as they try to be different. Ze doen alles hetzelfde. Ze denken hetzelfde. Alles, totdat er toch eentje denkt: ik wil iets nieuws! Try anwering Mrs Plummer's inference questions in the To Print section. A grown up could ask the questions - you do not have to print them.