Publisher:
Createspace

Publication Date:
12/09/2014

Copyright Date:
N/A

ISBN:
9781502596390

Binding:
Paperback

U.S. SRP:
11.97

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Yummy Stories

By Lil L. Alexander

IR_Star-black
IR Rating:
3.0
YUMMY STORIES offers some food for thought for little sprouts.
YUMMY STORIES transports children to a magical land where animals and people thrive on healthy fruits, vegetables and social mores.

In this beautifully illustrated picture book, author Lil L. Alexander offers six stories to spark the imagination and the stimulate the appetite for healthy eating and positive living. Full size illustrations by Anda Corfaru are simple yet evocative and feature a palette of soft, colors that inspire positive emotions. The artwork cleverly incorporates the illustration of a story’s ending with the illustration of the next story creating a nice visual continuity of the illustrations, and creating the sense of one magical kingdom. Each illustration makes vegetables and fruit a key factor by utilizing carrot sticks for fences, mushrooms for homes and broccoli florets for trees and shrubs. Each story concludes with the moral of the story in the form of a very short poem.

Included in this collection is the story of The Pea and the Princess, about a pea who is determined to meet his Princess, and what the clever princess does to make good use of the pea, rather than just eating it. Also, there is the story of Longbeard – a giant that eats all the carrots in the village until one little girl decides to set things right. The focus on eating healthy foods and the continued presentation of vegetables in the illustrations versus candy canes is unique and refreshing.  Each story is filled with numerous values and morals which both serves to prod the imagination and spark discussion. However; this is, at times, the downfall of the stories. There are so many themes and points that are touched upon that no real focus develops from each story, creating a somewhat generalized story line that relies greatly on somewhat convenient and sometimes illogical endings so the story loses the potential for real impact. In the story about Cheekerchuck  – the very cutely illustrated dinosaur  – themes of healthy eating and friendship are addressed, but the story offers a seemingly rushed ending that attempts to tie up loose ends but is somewhat unsatisfying and loses the impact of the story. This is true, too for The Strawberry that Liked to Brag. While the conclusion invites the reader to “tell the story from here on” by pondering what happened to the princess, it again feels like an abrupt and unsatisfying, albeit convenient ending.

Although YUMMY STORIES could benefit from some streamlining, the concept and focus are positive and a nice springboard for parents to use to introduce very basic concepts of gardening and good eating (and behavior) to children.

YUMMY STORIES offers some food for thought for little sprouts.

~ IndieReader.

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