Hoberman (The Cozy Book, 1995, etc.) renders the story of finicky eaters with an understatement that both children and those who cook for them will appreciate. Persnickety eaters--they are Mrs. Peters's cross to bear, and she has seven of them. One wants warm (not hot, not cold) milk, another lemonade (not from a can, but homemade), or applesauce, or strained oatmeal, hot bread, eggs poached and fried (for the twins). Although she loves her children, her efforts to keep them fed drive her batty--``Creamy oatmeal, pots of it! Homemade bread and lots of it! Peeling apples by the peck, Mrs. Peters was a wreck.'' On her birthday, the kids do the cooking, and from their respective preferences emerges a delicious cake. Hoberman gives this tale a droll rhyme, singsongy and fresh as paint, while Frazee's pen-and-ink illustrations, with a touch of Hilary Knight's chaos to them, mold the story with warmth and mayhem: The Peterses live in a Walden-like setting that grows with the family and mellows over the years. Point taken--the antidote for picky eaters (and for the happy trials of large families) is a good sense of humor. (Picture book. 4-8)

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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

I1="BLANK" I2="BLANKFleischman's innovative short novel is the story of an urban garden started by a child and nurtured by people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Each of the thirteen chapters is narrated by a different character, allowing the reader to watch as a community develops out of disconnected lives and previous suspicions. Although the total effect of the brief chapters is slightly superficial, some of the individual narratives are moving. The opening chapter about nine-year-old Kim, a Vietnamese immigrant, is a vivid portrait of a child who longs for the approval of her deceased father. The novel is didactic in purpose-folks of all ages, economic backgrounds, and ethnicities put aside their differences to create a beautiful, rich harvest-but effective in execution. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ages 4^-8. The combination of food and farce makes for an affectionate rhyming picture book about a family of picky eaters who drive their mother frantic. As each baby is born, it makes its rigid nutritional tastes known through bellowing demands. For example, Peter wants milk, but it must be warm, not hot, not cold. Mary Lou has to be fed "soft and squishy homemade bread. Jack--all he'll eat is applesauce. One twin wants poached eggs, the other fried. The line-and-color illustrations extend the silly fun as the comfortable house gets more and more cluttered and chaotic. Father is somewhere in the background, but the focus is on Mrs. Peters, nearly always pregnant, trying to play her cello, and increasingly overwhelmed by the appetites of her family. Then the kids surprise her, and themselves, in a gloriously messy climax that allows everyone to eat and Mom to have a life. --Hazel Rochman

Gr 2-3‘In this highly comic rhyming romp that surprisingly (and nicely) twists into a birthday story, Hoberman and Frazee tweak fussy eaters with style and panache. The author's lighthearted touch takes readers swiftly through the arrival of the Peters's seven children‘each with a distinct bias for the food that he or she will or will not eat. Peter likes milk of a certain temperature, Lucy demands homemade pink lemonade, Jack limits his menu to applesauce, Mac insists his oatmeal be strained, Mary Lou consumes only "soft and squishy homemade bread," and the twins are strictly egg eaters. While Mrs. Peters lovingly accommodates her brood, Frazee's illustrations energetically depict the true story. Chaos reigns throughout the house as Mrs. Peters squeezes, strains, peels, kneads, and bakes, becoming wearier with every passing year. The minutia of a seven-child home spills around the pictures in a realistic but never obtrusive way, and the artist further bolsters the scenes with individualized and effective facial expressions and body postures. When Mother's birthday approaches, the children, taxing in their dietary demands but nonetheless loving, decide to treat her to "A breakfast made of all the foods/that kept them in such happy moods." The result, both hilarious and satisfying, could add humor to classroom units on nutrition and to discussions on sibling relationships; the book will also be a good companion to Lee Bennett Hopkins's Munching (Little, Brown, 1985).‘Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.