Eat Your Peas: A Daisy Book

This adorable book shows the lengths a well-meaning mom says she'll go to in order to get her daughter to eat her peas. Every parent has struggled with a child not wanting to eat what is in front of her/him; my youngest refuses to touch peas or anything green. The point is that the mom offers more and more outrageous bribes to get Daisy to do what she wants -something that kids find humorous whether or not their parents have ever done it. When Daisy points out that her mom doesn't have to eat food she truly dislikes, it's "kid-logic" at its best. (I haven't eaten lima bean since my parents forced me to as a child; I don't force my kids to eat anything. There's always another choice!) But food isn't even the point of the book. A previous reviewer decried the book as racist, even saying it should be recalled; read the book to see the context. After offering pet elephants and zebras, chocolate factories and 100 dishes of ice cream, the mom offers to buy Africa and a supermarket. Africa is, of course, home to elephants and zebras, and the supermarket is home to ice cream. As adults, we sometimes see things not as they are, but with our own perspective tarnishing the intention of the author. There is no hidden message of colonialism or racism. And what's wrong with a little personal choice? Can't I serve more than one vegetable at a time? The book is sweet, funny, and a good lesson to the adults - we can't make them eat, sleep, or poop, but we sure can have fun with our kids! My daughters adore this book, and have loved it since we first opened it when the oldest wasn't even two. She's now six and reads it to the younger ones! And now I am off to serve broccoli to all but the youngest, who will have carrots instead. Then they'll have leftover cake.

This book has been a favorite in our home for 6 or 7 years, when I purchased the book through a DK home sales company. I would take it to read to my daughter's classes and was so popular that I found an out of print copy and donated it to the school library. You can never find it on the shelf there; it is always checked out. I recently ordered a second copy to supplement the first and realize that the text is slightly different... "ice cream" has been changed to "dessert" although the picture is the same. It's a bit small now for a read-aloud; the first copy will have to be reserved when I want to read it to the students. The children love how the mom spirals out of control in an attempt to convince her daughter to eat her peas. "Oh, I'd eat my peas if I got to move to Superland." What a riot! Note to publishers: print this in a big-book format!

We received this book as a gift from a friend in England. My 2-year-old LOVES it. As the other reviewer mentioned, it is exaggerated and ridiculous, and kids understand that. Some of the concepts and word usages are very English, including the reference to "Superland," the use of the word "pudding" (which means dessert in England), and the reference to buying Africa. There Africa is a cool place to visit with cool animals, bigger than Superland and smaller than the earth (the next thing she offers to buy). I can understand how that sentence might be misinterpreted, but please don't write off this book because of it. It is too much fun. We have several other Daisy books, including "You Do," "Really, Really" and "A Bunch of Daisies" and all are wonderful.

When I first read this book, I thought it was just a standard, cute picture book. Then I read it to classes of Kindergarteners and 1st graders and they thought it was simply hilarious! They giggled and all loved the refrain, "I don't like peas!" Cute illustrations and a funny twist at the end make this book a good choice for young kids.

This is a clever book that will turn an all-too-familiar situation (the battle between parents and children when it comes to trying different foods) on its ears. The use of hyperbole and the dialogue between Daisy and her mother will cause kids to giggle. A fun book with bright, simple illustrations that will keep kids interested.