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
The scenario is absolutely authentic: Jamaica is embarrassed by her hand-me-down boys' boots and jealous of Brianna's pretty pink ones; when Jamaica's wear out, she chooses cowboy boots so Brianna won't say she copied—only to have Brianna tell her that they ``aren't in''; hurt, she declares Brianna's ``ugly.'' All comes right when the two finally level: Brianna's boots are also hand-me-downs, and she can't wait to grow so she can replace them. Yes, the story's about boots—as important an arena for choice and identity for small children as for their elders—but it's also, in Havill's simple, beautifully honed text, about friendship. O'Brien's warm, realistic illustrations of this vibrant African-American and her lively Asian-American friend are just right. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-395-64489-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
A very pleasing first-chapter book from its funny and tender opening salvo to its heartwarming closer. Ray and his Grampa Halfmoon live in Chicago, but Grampa comes from Oklahoma. Six vignettes make up the short chapters. Among them: Ray finds a way to buy Grampa the pair of moccasins that remind him of home and Smith gets in a gentle jab at the commercialization of Native American artifacts. At a Christmas stuck far away from the Oklahoma relatives the pair finds comfort and joy even when the electricity goes out, and in a funny sequence of disasters, a haircut gone seriously awry enables a purple-and-orange dye job to be just the ticket for little-league spirit. The language is spare, clean, and rhythmic, with a little sentimentality to soften the edges. Ray and Grampa have a warm and loving intergenerational bond that’s an added treat. With a nod toward contemporary Native Americans, Grampa tells Cherokee and Seminole family stories, and when Ray gets to be in a wedding party, the groom is Polish-Menominee and his bride is Choctaw. An excellent choice for younger readers from the author of the bittersweet Rain Is Not My Indian Name (2001). (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-029531-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
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