Mary Ann Hoberman has published more than twenty books for children, including the American Book Award winner A House is a House for Me, illustrated by Betty Fraser. She and her husband live in Greenwich, CT. MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.
One needn't be a picky eater to revel in Hoberman's (A House Is a House for Me) deft and funny verse about a mother whose seven offspring each insist upon eating only his or her favorite food. Catering to these choosy children (who arrive in startlingly quick succession), patient Mrs. Peters squeezes an endless supply of lemons to make fresh pink lemonade for Lucy, peels apples by the peck to simmer pots of applesauce for Jack and kneads batch after batch of dough to bake "soft and squishy" homemade bread for Mary Lou. Since four others make similar demands on her time, it's no surprise that this kitchen-bound mother grows weary with the passing years, until a serendipitous birthday present brings her a glorious payback. The limber lines and cartoon-like animation of Frazee's (That Kookoory!) chaotically busy illustrations handily match the energy and wit of the text's quatrain couplets; the slightly subdued palette of her colored inks keeps the compositions on the right side of boisterous while also giving the story a comfortably retro feel. This talented artist sets the tale in such a cheerfully frenetic, invitingly cluttered household that kids of all culinary leanings will long to move right in, or, at the very least, visit often. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
PreS-Gr 3-Mrs. Peters' chaotic family of seven children is a silly bunch of picky eaters. As each child is born, Mrs. Peters gets more and more frazzled trying to please them. This humorous rhyming story written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Marla Frazee (Harcourt, 1997) is read by the author and translates seamlessly to an iconographic presentation, enhanced by kitchen sounds and a musical background. The illustrations are energetic and offer wonderfully realistic facial expression for the children. Each child eats only one kind of food-warm milk, pink lemonade, applesauce, strained oatmeal, soft and squishy homemade bread, eggs-which Mom prepares for each of them every day. On her birthday, they try to make their mom "A breakfast made of all the foods that kept them in such happy moods." But when the kids realize they don't know how to cook, they try to hide the mess from their mother by storing it in the still-warm oven. The dilemma resolves itself as each of their food choices becomes an ingredient in "a birthday cake all pink and plump." Elementary audiences will delight in the rhythm of the text and the feel-good story. A wonderful choice for units on nutrition and sibling relationships-or just for fun.-Marilyn Hersh, Hillside Elementary School, Farmington Hills, MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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