Eat up, Gemma (review by Natalia Brucciamonti)

Written by Sarah Hayes

Illustrations by Jan Ormerod

Entertaining for learners who are in kindergarten, “Eat Up, Gemma” is a story about a baby who doesn’t want to eat her food. Sarah Hayes, the writer, shows in the book the way Gemma’s entire family care about her. They all try to make the toddler eat up her meals.

Gemma is asked to eat by her mother, grandmother, dad and friends, but all she does is throwing, squashing and banging her food. The baby’s relatives get more and more worried as days pass and Gemma continues without eating. Fortunately, the toddler’s little brother finds a clever solution to end with this situation.

Although the story might be interesting for your learners you should be aware of the discriminatory message that can be inferred by reading the book. The context of the story is a black-colored community. Gemma and her relatives are black-colored people who have black-colored friends. It’s not possible to see in Ormerod’s illustrations a person who doesn’t belong to that specific ethnic community. The issue about this is that the characters of the book are presented as a preferential group, segregated from the rest of the people.

If you’re interested in teaching your young learners values and the importance of tolerance towards a multicultural society, this isn’t the book I would recommend you to read them.

The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip (review by M.A.)

Alexei Tolstoy, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrations)

Mammoth; New edition edition (Sep 18 1998)

Paperback: 28 pp $ 10,43

The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip is a lovely old story for children by Alexei Tolstoy, one of the most famous Russian writers of all times. This story shows that through cooperation and sustained effort, big problems can be solved and difficult aims can be achieved.

“Grow, grow little turnip, grow sweet. Grow, grow little turnip, grow strong”. These are the words that the old man, one of the main characters of the book, utters at the beginning of the story when he plants a little turnip. What he doesn’t imagine is that the vegetable will not only grow sweet and strong but also big, great and enormous! The impressive size of the vegetable makes it impossible for the old man to pull it up on his own, and consequently, he needs to look for help. This is the point from which the whole story develops, through a repetitive sequence of actions in which different characters, ranging from an old woman to a little mouse, help the old man with the onerous task of trying to pull the enormous turnip up. The simplicity of the vocabulary used by Tolstoy, and the predictability of the sequence of events make this story suitable and engaging for children of all ages, but especially for younger ones.

On the other hand, Helen Oxenbury’s humorous and fresh illustrations vividly portray the huge effort that all the characters make in order to pull the great turnip up. This makes the story wildly funny and fascinating for children.

Undoubtedly, in The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip, Tolstoy and Oxenbury show that it is not necessary to create a big, enormous story to engage children with reading, but that simplicity and humour can be the best combination to make a story absolutely charming and delightful for them.

Two Greedy Bears: a story about not being greedy (review by Julieta Acevedo)

“Two greedy bears” is a fascinating story which has been adapted from a Hungarian folk tale by Mirra Ginsburg. In order to enthrall children, the book has captivating pictures drawn by Jose Arruego and Ariane Dewey, and the main characters are two lovely cubs who live in the woods.

The book tells the story of two little bears who always quarrel because they are too greedy and selfish. After observing them, a smart fox appears and takes advantage of this situation. The story has an unexpected and surprising resolution and also implies a message for children. This tale may try to express that being greedy leads to negative consequences and also to highlight the positive and important value of sharing.

I highly recommend this book, not only because parents may read it to their children and share a wonderful and pleasant moment with them, but also because this tale promotes the value of sharing.

Hello, House! (review by Julián Riobó)

Linda Hayward, Lynn Musinger (illustrator)

Publisher: Random House Trade

Hello, House! is the story of a sly rabbit that uses his wits to triumph over a not particularly clever wolf that wants to catch him. This lovely and funny tale takes place in the middle of the woods, where the little rabbit lives in a cosy house with his family. Linda Hayward, the author, and Lynn Musinger, with his utterly charming illustrations, show how intelligence prevails over physical strength with an engaging story for children between four and eight years of age

Hello, House! has a mixture of humour and didactic elements. The shrewd little rabbit using all his cleverness in order to get rid of the foolish wolf makes up a gripping story. Children are bound to have much fun when they see the way this naive-looking rabbit can make a fool of the big, hairy wolf. “Brer Wolf is bigger. But Brer Rabbit is a whole lot smarter”. The wolf spends his days trying to catch the little rabbit without any success since he sees himself outwitted by his “prey”. The author conveys a message that tells children that using their intelligence is much more important than using physical strength.

The little rabbit plays tricks on the wolf which make him feel silly and inferior. He places figures made of straw resembling rabbits in the woods with the purpose of making a fool of the unintelligent wolf. The main part of the story begins when the whole rabbit family goes out on a picnic. Brer Wolf is determined to take advantange of this situation and he has a plan that is likely to lead him to success for once and for all. But will he be clever enough to carry it out?

Undoubtedly, a perfect story to keep children amused as well as teach them a lesson. The tale will not disappoint them. Containing wonderful drawings and a hugely enjoyable story, this tale will surely fascinate any child. Highly recommended for kids between the ages of four and eight.

The Foot Book (review by Valeria Niell)

Dr. Seuss gifts us The Foot Book, perfect to read along with young children because of its short and repetitive phrases and attracting drawings.

The Foot Book describes all sort of feet and the characters are simple and funny, like doodles, and they clearly express what the words depict. For example, for “slow feet” there’s a big monster denoting laziness with his long ears and arms hanging still, and there’s a sense of calmness in his eyes and smile. We can easily imagine him walking in slow motion. And for “trick feet” there’s a dog juggling with his feet.

The most interesting feature of this engaging book is the rhyme and the repetition of phrases, encouraging the young reader to “foresee” or anticipate what the words will read (to cite an instance , the repetition of “Here come...”).

Dr. Seuss plays with words and their sounds creating rhymes, like “In the house and on the street, how many, many feet you meet”.

The presence of rhymes and repeated phrases is an excellent resource in children's books, because the readers will never sound dull or boring due the melody these rhymes give to their voice. I recommend this book because it will help young readers/listeners to include new words to their vocabulary, such as adjectives (since all the feet in The Foot Book are accompanied by an attribute: Sick, slow, fuzzy, etc.) and opposites (small and big, etc.).

The Wiener Dog Magnet (Review by G.V.)

"The Wiener Dog Magnet" is a story written and illustrated by Hayes Roberts, which tells a tale of how a little monkey named Kiki Marie saves the day with just a magnet dog. After paying a nickel for a wiener magnet, she heads towards different places and comes across a difficulty when reaching a river, where real wiener dogs live. The experience Kiki Marie lives is a great example for children to learn certain values in the book.

The encounter with these real dogs represents a trouble for Kiki Marie, but the turning point in the story comes when she uses her imagination to rescue two alligators that she happens to see trapped in the rapids of a river and she decided to put them into safety by using her magnet. This innocent but inventive idea turns out to be an unforgettable moment when the king of alligators gives her a blue ribbon as an acknowledgement for her kindness and bravery.

There are several topics that the story touches upon such as solidarity, friendship, no discrimination, courage, which you can read when Kiki rescues the alligators. All these topics are special for kindergarten children since they can understand certain values easily by reading Kiki Marie’s adventure.

All Hayes’s pictures shown in the book or the online version, which look the same, are simple and really attractive, triggering children’s interest from the beginning and putting a hook in readers from the first pages.

As a negative aspect, the story is a bit short and the action is really fast. There is no space for enlarging vocabulary. However, whether you choose to buy the book or read the online story, you will enjoy it.

The Old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle (review by Paola Vellere)

“The old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle” is a short story about an old woman who always complains about her living situation till a fairy hears her laments and decides to help the woman.

The author, Margaret Read MacDonald, uses repetitive and funny sentences to narrate the story that makes it easier for children to follow. The old woman thinks that she would be happy living in a cottage, but when the fairy makes the woman’s dream come true, the old woman complains again and again.

“What a pity, what a pity, pity, pity

That a woman like me should live in this…”

The woman’s greed increases every time the fairy grants her desires of living in different places. But the fairy decides to teach her a moral. The old woman is an ungrateful and unhappy person who thinks that happiness is a matter of material things.

The book has got colorful illustrations with many tiny details that call young children’s attention. This Book is highly recommended for children and for every person who is able to listen to a simple children’s story and reflect upon how people sometimes relate material things to happiness.