A cheerful, fun approach to good food with the authentic flavor of folk tales for kids 4 to 8.
In this illustrated children’s book, modern fairy tales encourage children to eat delicious fruits and vegetables.
Talking vegetables, a hungry dinosaur and a cabbage-loving emperor: These and other characters populate the six stories in this collection. In the first, for example, “The Pea and the Princess,” a brave little pea wishes to be sown by a true princess, so he goes in search of one. First a toad tries to eat him, then a rabbit, then a mouse, who grabs him—but is caught by a buzzard, pea and all. The mouse drops him into a castle garden, where he’s found by a true princess and planted. The kingdom’s children get to eat the resulting peas. A food artist, organic gardener and teacher, Alexander playfully encourages good eating habits in her debut story collection. Her stories possess genuine fairy-tale cadence in sentences such as “She put two apples and a goose feather into a bag and went into the forest.” Other successful fairy-tale techniques include building up the story through repetition or deciding to settle a quarrel by asking the first passerby to help. Alexander’s humorous phrasing also appeals: “The giant had only just finished eating and was snoring loudly. Poor squirrels! Unfortunate moles!” The beautifully done illustrations help tell the story; fruits and vegetables are hidden on every page (broccoli trees, an asparagus fence), and finding them is part of the fun. With their well-crafted rhythm and rhyme, the stories are perfect for reading aloud. The book can be didactic, with each story ending in moralistic lesson: “Full of vitamins, you see, / Is our little strawberry. / And we’ve learned through tale and song / That to brag and boast is wrong!” While the lessons are positive, some of the language may be a bit confusing for kids (“Although sometimes quite capricious / Cabbages can be delicious”).
A cheerful, fun approach to good food with the authentic flavor of folk tales for kids 4 to 8.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502596390
Page Count: 56
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unhei has just left her Korean homeland and come to America with her parents. As she rides the school bus toward her first day of school, she remembers the farewell at the airport in Korea and examines the treasured gift her grandmother gave her: a small red pouch containing a wooden block on which Unhei’s name is carved. Unhei is ashamed when the children on the bus find her name difficult to pronounce and ridicule it. Lesson learned, she declines to tell her name to anyone else and instead offers, “Um, I haven’t picked one yet. But I’ll let you know next week.” Her classmates write suggested names on slips of paper and place them in a jar. One student, Joey, takes a particular liking to Unhei and sees the beauty in her special stamp. When the day arrives for Unhei to announce her chosen name, she discovers how much Joey has helped. Choi (Earthquake, see below, etc.) draws from her own experience, interweaving several issues into this touching account and delicately addressing the challenges of assimilation. The paintings are done in creamy, earth-tone oils and augment the story nicely. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: July 10, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-80613-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2001
SEEN & HEARD
This standout novella lustrously portrays Ana Rosa and the rich simplicity of her family’s daily life in the Dominican Republic. The linked vignettes and elegant prose vitalize the merengue music, colorful houses, as well as the people’s poverty and the tyranny of the government. Each chapter begins with one of Ana Rosa’s lovely rhythmic verses. A poet and writer at age 12, she steals bits of paper to record everything she sees, hears, and imagines. Ana Rosa’s family is very close by necessity, but it is her beloved brother Guario who has the job that supports them. As the novella proceeds, dark shadows begin to slink through the gentle days. We learn that Ana Rosa’s father drinks too much rum and Coke, especially on Sundays, when he becomes a lurching spectacle. Then an official informs the villagers that to build a hotel, the government has sold the land on which their families have lived for generations. The villagers band together, Ana Rosa writes an article, and her brother Guario becomes their passionate leader. But when the day of the standoff arrives, the villager’s words and rocks are nothing against the guardia’s guns and bulldozers. The heartbreaking result is Guario’s death. Without diluting the sorrow, Joseph (Fly, Bessie, Fly, 1998, etc.) illustrates the good arising from the tragedy as the government cancels the hotel project and Ana Rosa begins writing the life of her brother. This is an achingly beautiful story that will awaken profound emotions in the reader. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028232-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
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