An uneven book that uses food imagery to teach children how to overcome life’s everyday challenges.
A boy survives a difficult day with the help of culinary-based words of wisdom in this short children’s book featuring rhymes.
This volume transmits a message of child empowerment through a metaphoric lens of food and cooking. The story begins as a young boy named Little Chef wakes up “very tired one fine morning / And no matter how many pillow stretches he/ did, he couldn’t come unglued. / Today’s picnic basket served up a triple decker/ peanut butter sandwich/ which had already been chewed.” Little Chef’s challenges include a sore nose from being hit by a soccer ball the day before “by a kid who didn’t bother/ to say sorry / leaving on Little Chef’s nose/ a giant meatball stuffed with/ fresh calamari!” (The imagery continues with “Oh, this meatball was/ tender, certainly not slender, / and served with a cold mood milkshake/—fresh from the blender!”) Little Chef bounces happily into class “on giant/ marshmallows,” then realizes he is late: “His paper was bare. / A runaway burnt waffle rolled out of thin air!” The ending, less a wrap-up than a new beginning, finds a girl named “Sous Chef” making a sudden entrance into the narrative. The author’s closing observation: “Sous Chef, whatcha kneading? / Life’s little spoils don’t stand a chance. / The sugary trail of crumbs you leave/ will create an exceptional dance.” Rothman (The Thunder Maker, 2015, etc.) offers children a worthy, uplifting message. Throughout the tale, Little Chef surmounts disappointments by remembering the words that his “family spread/ like thick golden butter on warm yellow/ cornbread/…Little Chef, whatcha cooking/ today? The taste of life is au jus a/ surprise. / Season the day. / Savor the wild thyme. / Make the day sublime!” (This encouraging mantra becomes the story’s refrain.) But overall, both the concept and text would benefit from further development; visual polish would elevate the tale as well. Unfortunately, the volume delivers an off-putting mix of rudimentary graphic design and unappetizing shared stock images.
An uneven book that uses food imagery to teach children how to overcome life’s everyday challenges.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-53384-0
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Rothman Editions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
