Eat Up, Little Donkey by Rindert Kromhout and Annemarie van Haeringen
| Eat Up, Little Donkey by Rindert Kromhout and Annemarie van Haeringen | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: We all know a picky eater, so here's another idea you can try to see if you can get your little darling to eat something! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 20 | Date: [[:Category:September 2013link title|September 2013link title]] |
| Publisher: Gecko Press | |
| ISBN: 978-1877579332 | |
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[[Category:September 2013link title]]
Little Donkey won't eat his lunch. He really, really doesn't want to eat at all. So, without a fuss Mama Donkey packs him into the pushchair and off they go to the park. I wonder what she has in mind?
Do you live with a fussy eater? I do. Some nights it can take over an hour for my daughter to eat her dinner, and any kinds of vegetables often involve a lengthy discussion about how many mouthfuls must be eaten and whether cheese is a kind of vegetable or not and why she can't have cucumber every night...Fortunately her brother eats anything and everything, including things he finds on the floor that he really shouldn't be eating! In this story we have an eater of the fussy variety, and Little Donkey is really quite a naughty donkey. When asked to open wide he says Won't. When Mama Donkey pretend the food is a train on its way to Little Donkey's mouth Little Donkey declares My tummy says no.
Then, all of a sudden, Little Donkey is standing up in his high chair shouting Here comes a plane and throwing his plate of food across the room! I don't know about you but that would be an instant naughty step in our house! Mama Donkey seems much more laid back in her parenting approach. She merely picks up Little Donkey under one arm (well, leg I suppose since she's a donkey!) and pops him into his pushchair. Off they go to the park to feed the ducks, with Mama declaring that since Little Donkey isn't hungry the ducks can eat as much as they want to of his lunch! Quick as a wink, Little Donkey is up and out, wanting his lunch back! In the end they sit together, sharing one bite for the ducks and one for Little Donkey!
The illustrations are very simple throughout, and the donkeys are rather sweet. My favourite image comes right at the back of the book and it shows Little Donkey back in his high chair, eating some bread, and all around him on the floor are white ducks looking up hopefully, waiting to be fed! Each picture is on a bright, single colour background making the characters stand out.
I know, it's an unusual solution, setting off on a trek to give the local ducks your child's unwanted dinner. It could work. I'm unable to use old, stale bread to feed our ducks since my little boy (the one who eats everything) refuses to throw any of his bread to them and eats it all himself! I'm pretty sure he'd have a meltdown if I tried to throw his dinner away, but then he isn't the target audience for this story! This is a very simple story, as you can see, but I found it rather charming and it will appeal to both parents of fussy eaters as well as the little fuss pots themselves! Recommended for those just beginning to be able to voice their likes and dislikes about food.
Do let us know if you have any success with the 'throw it to the ducks' technique, but if not don't worry, just snuggle down on the sofa to read the story together again and enjoy Little Donkey's antics (though making it very clear that this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable in real life!)
You might also enjoy Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements or Nutmeg Says Yum! by Caroline Jayne Church
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You can read more book reviews or buy Eat Up, Little Donkey by Rindert Kromhout and Annemarie van Haeringen at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Eat Up, Little Donkey by Rindert Kromhout and Annemarie van Haeringen at Amazon.com.
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