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I’D REALLY LIKE TO EAT A CHILD by Sylviane Donnio

I’D REALLY LIKE TO EAT A CHILD

by Sylviane Donnio & illustrated by Dorothée de Monfreid & translated by Leslie Martin

Pub Date: April 24th, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-375-83761-6
Publisher: Random House

Achilles the crocodile is adored by his parents. They bring him bunches of bananas to eat so he will grow up big and strong. One day, though, Achilles tires of bananas and decides he’d rather eat a child. His mother tells him children don’t grow on trees, and she only has bananas for him. His father tries to get him to eat a sausage from town. Achilles’s parents even make him a splendid chocolate cake, but he still wants to eat a child. Leaving his parents in tears, he heads off for a swim. There by the river sits a child! Achilles attacks. She picks him up, tickles his belly and tosses him in the river. Achilles knows just what to do: Go home and eat lots of bananas in order to grow big enough to eat a child. The slightly grisly story might not appeal to everyone, but de Monfried’s Feiffer-esque watercolors most certainly will. The crocs are expressive, and the dark-skinned girl is adorably self-confident. On the whole, a nice addition to storytimes about finicky eaters. (Picture book. 3-5)