Jesper Jinx and the Turkish Pepper

Title:  Jesper Jinx and the Turkish Pepper

Author and Illustrator:  Marko Kitti

Published Date: 2015

Recommended Ages:  8+

 More mayhem for Jesper Jinx, the unluckiest kid, in Puffington Hill in the third children’s book Jesper Jinx and the Turkish Pepper by Finnish author Marko Kitti.  If you are not familiar with Jesper or the series I have reviewed the first and second books as well.  I will leave a link at the end of the page if you would like to start at the beginning.  Now let’s find out what happens to poor Jesper in the newest book.

Jesper Jinx and the Turkish Pepper is another lively read that will leave readers anticipating Jesper’s next adventure.  I have come to enjoy discovering how Jesper gets himself into trouble and the antics that follow him around.  It isn’t possible for someone to be that unlucky, is it?  Now I look forward to seeing how Jesper’s antics will, by the end of book, also bring about some good for him, of course, in the most hilarious ways possible.

This book opens with a chapter where Jesper is trying to pull one over his parents over the issue of cleaning his room but ends up being pranked by his sister, Melinda.  Typical for poor Jesper.  Nothing goes his way.  The second chapter, as in the other books, is written from the point of view of the silly old scribbler (the author) who has agreed with Jesper from the very beginning to record his stories but not to publish them.  That would be way too humiliating.  Through book one and two the scribbler seems to have gotten away with it by instructing everyone reading the book to sign an agreement not to tell Jesper the truth.  But here in the third book there is a hint that perhaps Jesper is on to the old scribbler and what he is doing.  Jesper suggests that in order to keep him quiet he must hand over this last bag of Turkish Pepper Liquorice.  Of course, this bag of Turkish Pepper Liquorice will play a crucial role in the following chapters and events of the book.

The first adventure occurs right in Jesper’s backyard as he and his friend, Oliver, set up a tent and attempt to sleep in it for a night of camping.  What could go wrong, right?   Before the night is even half over the boys have gotten their rear ends lodged in Jesper’s sister’s bedroom window and the cops have arrived.  It is in following chapter written from the point of view of Frank the fox that the reader finds out how everything unfolded.

Jesper and the Turkish Pepper chapter is where all the action explodes.  Jesper and his sister are pitted against each other to win a singing contest judged by their parents.  The winner of the contest will get MIP tickets to a special concert in Puffington Hill.  Here we see Jesper in a different light.  He works hard to try and win the tickets.  No pranks, no cheating.  Just his best effort.  As a reader familiar with Jesper’s antics, I sat in suspense anticipating the unfortunate events that are likely to occur to Jesper even though he was trying to do right.  Well,  of course, it appears everything will go badly for Jesper but then gets turned around and goes remarkably well.  I loved this ending.

The key to this book is the Turkish Peppers.  I had no idea what they were or if they are as potent as they appear to be in the book.  Turkish Peppers are a liquorice candy filled with ammonium chloride and pepper.  Very popular in Scandinavian countries.  I won’t divulge how the Turkish Peppers play a integral role in the outcome of the book.  You will have to read it for yourself, but remember don’t tell Jesper.

I was truly fascinated by these Turkish Peppers.  I don’t know a lot about liquorice and this book opens the door to fun cultural learning.  Student engagement could be increased while reading this book by bringing in some Turkish Peppers and asking the kids to try them out and then to write about them.

Here are some writing prompts I thought could be used in conjunction with the book:

1.  For those adventurous students who like to try anything I would encourage them to try one themselves and then to write a descriptive paragraph describing the taste,  or to write a comparison to something they have tried before.  For those student who are maybe not so adventurous I would ask them to write about their favourite dessert as if they were blindfolded.  (Of course, ok everything through administration and/or parents first)

2.  Write a ‘How to’ guide to eating Turkish Peppers.

3.  Compose tweets describing the taste of Turkish Peppers.  They must be as descriptive as possible

     in 140 characters.

4.  A comparison review of liquorice candy from different parts of the world.  (Geographical and

    Cultural Aspects)

If you are interested in learning more about Jesper Jinx you can find Jesper and the Silly Old Scribbler at these following websites:

Here are my reviews of Book 1 and 2 in the series:

Have you ever tried a Turkish Pepper?  I’m contemplating it but have not yet taken the dive!  I hope you have enjoyed my review.

Cheers,

Bonnie