Jam by Margaret Mahy

Tuesday Treasure

Mr and Mrs Castle live in a little house with their three children - Clement, Clarissa and Carlo.

"Three little Castles ... but very small ones - more like Cottages really."

Mrs Castle is a scientist and she has been asked to help with the development of an electronic medicine to cure sunspots.  This means Mr Castle will now look after the three children. He adopts a new 'househusband' routine.

He washed the dishes and then pegged them out to dry.
Not only did he sweep the floors he swept the ceilings too.
He vacuumed the carpets and put the dough to rise in a warm place ...
Planted a row of cabbages, folded the washing, baked the bread and a cake ...
Prepared dinner (and) read the paper so we to be well-informed.

One day there is a thump on the roof. The plums are ripe. Mr Castle sees this as a challenge. Not a single plum will go to waste. He makes pots and pots of jam and when the pots run out he fills their cups and glasses. Of course then they all need to eat this jam and so Mr Castle (his talents know no bounds) makes scones, roly poly, sponge cakes, pancakes and jam sandwiches. Some tiles lift in the bathroom so he uses jam to stick them down. Eventually all the jam is eaten. The kids and Mrs Castle have become quite sick of jam. It has filled their dreams and nightmares so they happily imagine all the delicious foods (without jam) that they can now enjoy. After all the jam eating the family are looking quite fat so Mr Castle suggests they enjoy a game of cricket outside before eating lunch.

"While they were playing on the lawn, Mr Castle heard a soft thud on the roof. He looked up at the plum tree enthusiastically. A year of jam eating had gone by. The plums were ripe again."

Margaret Mahy was a master storyteller. There are so many delightful little details in her stories. One of my favourites is  this book Jam illustrated by Helen Craig. I have read this book to library groups every year since it was first published in 1985. That means I have read this book aloud well over 100 times and yes it delights me every time.

Mahy and Craig make a smashing team. The colorful, detailed drawings convey the same humor and high spirits as the text. Kirkus

When you look at Margaret Mahy's books you will see many different illustrators - Steven Kellogg, Jonathan Allen, Polly Dunbar, Margaret Chamberlain, Sarah Garland, Shirley Hughes, and Helen Craig.  Helen Craig also illustrated The Pumpkin Man and the Crafty Creeper.

Margaret Mahy received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006. The jury president said:

"In awarding the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing to Margaret Mahy, the jury has recognized one of the world's most original re-inventors of language. Mahy's language is rich in poetic imagery, magic, and supernatural elements. Her oeuvre provides a vast, numinous, but intensely personal metaphorical arena for the expression and experience of childhood and adolescence. Equally important, however, are her rhymes and poems for children. Mahy's works are known to children and young adults all over the world."

Here are some things I talk about when we read Jam:

What do you notice about the children's names?
Why were the children worried when Mrs Castle tells the family she is heading away to work?
Why did Mr Castle peg the dishes out to dry?
Compare the illustration on the first page with the illustration on the final page - what do you see?
What do you notice about the 'shape' of this story?
Let's make a list of the funny little details in the story that made you smile e.g. filling egg cups with jam.

Here is a video of jam making which we watch after taking time to explore some recipes using jam