Salty Numbers
by
Matt Zurbo
Jarvis was bored with counting sheep…
(Jarvis in PJs, sitting bored, 1-2-3 Book with sheep on cover in hands. Drawing paper and pencils on floor by his side)
So he stole 1 rowboat, and sailed away!
(Jarvis, still in PJs, climbing out of bedroom window, rowboat waiting under it, in water for him, as if house is on old wooden pier.)
He was almost sunk by 2 container ships.
(Big ship bows with numbers 1 and 2 on them. Jarvis’s boat being rocked. Jarvis falling out the back.)
Nearly eaten by 3 sharks!
(Three sharks mouths wide, tangling with each other, while Jarvis recoils)
SAVED! By 4 deep sea divers!
(Three fending off sharks with suits. One holding Jarvis, putting his breathing hose in Jarvis’s mouth.).
Shown around by 5 mermaids and mermen!
(Diver’s clutching hands being left behind in bottom of frame)
Hijacked by 6 deep sea fish! Roar!
(Five monstrous fish, biggest bottom of page, about to eat next biggest, about to eat next biggest. Jarvis is last in line, swimming hard, up for rowboat.)
Oh no! 7 giant squids!
(Jarvis, half in boat, ankle being pulled by one of 7 squids poking their heads and some tentacles out of water. Jarvis is fighting them off with a paddle.)
On a deserted island, Jarvis saw 8 monkeys!
(Jarvis, clothes torn and wet, a squid tentacle still around his shoulder, sitting, slumped, exhausted, on half buried treasure chest while monkeys jump and pull faces all around him. We can just make out his broken boat in foreground.)
Became captain of 9 gnarly pirates!
(Pirates cheering/carrying Jarvis and treasure through shallows, to their rowboat. A couple of monkeys jumping up and down in protest.)
(Double page spread of Jarvis and pirates on pirate ship dancing to bongo drums)
Fought through 10 sea dragons!
(Small pirate ship, cannons blazing, surrounded by giant dragon neck and heads, rising from water.)
(Wordless page of Jarvis carried by water, tumbling through bedroom door. We can just make out dragon tails and cannonballs, and fire at door’s edge. Jarvis’s book and drawing pens in air)
And made it home!
(Jarvis, sitting on ground, legs spread, propping himself up, looking up, at parent’s legs.)
Where 1 tired boy was put to bed, again.
(Jarvis sleeping with all ten characters, and their numbers, drawn child-like and pinned to wall above him.)
The End
(Final image of Jarvis, lying on pier in PJs, looking over edge, talking to all creatures and people from story poking heads out of water, or pirates in small rowboat. Left of frame is bow of barge No 2. Everybody looking at Jarvis.)
365 kids books in 365 days 