Background

The concept for Jonathan’s Jungle was several years in the making. The inspiration for the story began when I was working in the Children’s Unit of an inpatient psychiatric hospital. I was working with these children, many of whom had a home life that was less than desirable. It was heart breaking to realize that many of the psychiatric problems could have been avoided if the parents had only invested more of themselves in their children’s lives. To replace this need, children would search for attention by acting out at school or for happiness by dabbling with drugs. This was the point at which I began thinking about this story. If a child who had a negative home situation could escape to a fantasy world where everyone smiled and looked happy, where would that world be and what would it be like? Who would you want to be with? I researched with adults and children about what they would want in their fantasy world, and two things kept reoccurring. People wanted a colorful world and to share that with a friend. At that point, I was at a stand still. I had the idea, but could not create the imaginary world. I was stumped.

In January of 2002 I went on a missions trip to the Central African Republic to spend some time in the rainforest with the pygmy people called the Bayaka. (You can find out more about the Bayaka by clicking on the BAYAKA button.) When I was there I saw so much poverty but there was something intriguing about the situation. These people had “nothing,” but their faces told a different story. They were literally the happiest people I have ever seen. They had nothing to give, but they were willing to give everything they had. As soon as we entered the perimeter of the village they ran to greet us. After taking our packs that we’d been carrying for days, they joyfully sang as they welcomed us into their homes and lives. To us they seemed as if they had nothing. Their clothes were tattered rags hanging from their shoulders. They looked like they had nothing, but by their faces you could tell they had it all. I stayed with them and lived their life for a week. I hungered with them, hunted with them (probably slowed them down more than helped them), ate with them, sang with them, and danced with them. I even played soccer in the middle of the jungle with them. Who would have ever thought I’d be doing that? I smiled more during my time in Africa than I ever had before. That’s a lot because I was already a pretty happy individual. Needless to say I saw things that would change my life forever.

Months passed by and I began thinking about my book again. I was still stumped. I could not for the life of me think of the happy world that a child could escape to. What place could be that happy? Lying in bed one night, pondering over ideas for new art and new stories, something clicked! I jumped out of bed and wrote it down. Why shouldn’t the happy refuge for this unhappy child in my story be the place where I smiled so much my face hurt? So it was, the child would be named Jonathan after one of the children in the village and he would escape to a village in the middle of the jungle. He would see true happiness for the first time in his life. The scene would be colorful just like the “real” place and he would meet his friends, Jean Paul and Christiana, the “real” Jonathan’s actual friends back in the village. Jonathan would do and see all the things that I saw when I was there. And so, in the summer before my first year of medical school I finally put the story and the illustrations on paper.

Another year and half went by until I finally refined it enough that I was satisfied with it. Here it is, finally, my story, Jonathan’s Jungle written and illustrated by me, Justin Snyder. I hope you and your family enjoy it and get the same gift that the Bayaka gave me.