No Cheese Please!

Name: No Cheese Please!
Author: Jennifer Woolford
ISBN: 978-0-9969200-0-1

by Jennifer Woolford illustrated by Alison Place Stumpf ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An easily accessible picture book that might be a good choice for parents struggling to get their children to try new foods,...

bookshelf

A mouse realizes that his dislike for cheese is just because he hasn’t found the right flavor in this debut children’s tale by author Woolford and illustrator Stumpf.

Nick, a mouse, doesn’t care for cheese, but he isn’t picky about other foods: “Carrots, peas, beans, beef, chicken, beets and corn / Had all been Nick’s favorites since the day he was born.” His mother, though, pressures him into eating cheese and even sneaks it into his food. Nick can always tell when she does this, and eventually he decides that he wants her to accept him for who he is. At this point, the book leads readers to expect that Nick is on a journey toward self-acceptance: he’s different, and that’s OK. But instead, his mother offers him a deal if he’ll try a piece of Parmesan cheese: “If you don’t like it, then my nagging is through. / I won’t beg you to eat cheese again, not even the Bleu.” Nick does so and discovers that he does indeed like it. The experience makes him turn over a new leaf, and he’s suddenly eager to try every cheese he comes across. The silly concept of a mouse who doesn’t like cheese is likely to appeal to young readers. Woolford’s poetry rhymes reasonably well, but it scans at different rhythms, making it easy to stumble over while reading aloud. Stumpf’s illustrations are cute, featuring a mix of pen-and-ink and watercolors, but the combination of humanized characters and strict geometric shapes representing cheeses sometimes feels a little awkward. (Nick’s backward red cap and supertwisty tail distinguish him in the images from the cheese-loving mice—in this case, everyone else.) A final page offers an interactive opportunity for children to draw or list a food that they’re unsure about but willing to try—a challenging combination.

An easily accessible picture book that might be a good choice for parents struggling to get their children to try new foods, even if its initial setup about self-acceptance doesn’t pan out.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-0-9969200-0-1

Page Count: 25

Publisher: Darn Write Publications

Review Posted Online: April 17, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

bookshelf

TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

by Josh Schneider & illustrated by Josh Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2011

bookshelf

Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ULTRABOT'S FIRST PLAYDATE
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
KID AMAZING VS. THE BLOB
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERYBODY SLEEPS (BUT NOT FRED)
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

bookshelf

ABIYOYO RETURNS

by Pete Seeger & Paul Dubois Jacobs & illustrated by Michael Hays ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001

bookshelf

The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)