Lunch

This book is beautiful, exciting for the children, and following it up with an art project for them to paint their favorite fruit or vegetable helped solidify the story.

Books about colors sometimes can be overwhelmingly successful. Not a lot of the time, it's true, but sometimes. Reading the cover flap for "Lunch", the book had this to say (about itself), "this is one book about colors that makes the plain old primaries look positively pale". Hrmph, said I. We shall see. So I flipped through this picture book, preparing to read the same old same old. And the fact of the matter is, the book flap was absolutely right. This book has the two elements absolutely necessary to becoming successful. It's amazing to look at and it's funny as all get out.A small mouse sniffs curiously out of his hole. His little arms reach yearningly off to the side. The little mouse is very hungry. So he climbs up the nearest black and white checked tablecloth and proceeds to eat every beautifully colored fruit and vegetable he sees. Beginning with a purple turnip, moving onto an orange carrot, yellow corn, etc. As the little mouse eats (and his aplomb and enthusiasm is highly addictive) he covers himself more and more with particles of the foods he's just devoured. By the end of the story the author includes a picture of the now completely multi-colored mouse with helpful notations as to what each item on his person is. On his tail are green peas, for example. Reading the artist's statement, I didn't realize right off the bat that just as the mousey's food items change color, so too does the background of each and every scene. Additionally, the tablecloth itself is a calming black and white, ably setting off the mouse and his gluttonous rampage.When you first hear how artist Denise Fleming went about creating the pictures for this book your initial reaction is something along the lines of, "Whaaaa?". Why go to all that bother and work? I urge you to purchase a hardcover copy of this book (I can't vouch for the paperback) because the book flap goes into incredible detail describing Fleming's incredible process. Suffice to say, no paint or brushes created a page of art in this book. Instead, each page is a meticulously hand-crafted process that results in handmade paper with these images intact. It blows the mind, it does. The rare spectacular picture book is interesting to children, interesting to adults, and manages to sneak in some sort of learning. "Lunch", however, doesn't bother with any sneaking. It blatantly teaches children the names of colors (as well as healthy foods!) and everyone ends up winning. This book is simply fabulous. Seriously consider adding it to your collection immediately, if not sooner.

This is one hungry mouse--he eats everything in sight with abandon. By the end of the book, he's covered in all the remnants from what he eaten, leaving a very obvious trail to his home. This is a delightfully fun book to read, but I would recommend it for a 2-4 child; because each page leaves the reader "hanging" on what is the next item the mouse will eat, it is best for a child who can understand more complex concepts. Again, Fleming has rendered a beautiful, if a bit abstract, visual feast for baby and parent alike. This is a fun book to add to one's library.

.You will never see a cheekier mouse than the little fella starring in "Lunch". That bright pink nose going "SNIFF, SNIFF". Those gorgeous bucked teeth and that great long tail. The big bold typeface of the words is matched by the bright and cheerful colors in the pictures.The links between the pages is very cleverly done. You have to guess what is next on the menu. You only get to see part of the fruit or vegetables and a few descriptive adjectives, before you turn the page and get the answer. Then you see our little friend chomping his way through his feast.He works his way through turnips, carrots, corn, peas, berries, grapes, apples and watermelon. The more he eats the bigger mess he makes. There are spills all over the table cloth and all over himself.After all that food it's time for a nap. He leaves a technicolor trail of debris on the way back to his hole.A little while later, that nose emerges from the hole again "SNIFF, SNIFF". It's dinnertime! A funny thing has happened. All the mess is cleaned up and no doubt the table has been restocked with goodies. Kids really love these circular stories.The funniest part of the book is found on the very back page. Here we get a color-coded picture of our grey, furry friend with arrows identifying all the telltale food remnants that are stuck on him from his nose to his tail.A fun book for everyone. .

Designing handmade paper by drying multiple layers of boldly colored pulp shaped by hand-cut stencils allows Fleming to create an extravagant feast of appealing fruits and vegetables for one small gray mouse. Contrasting brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables with a black-and-white checked tablecloth, Fleming adds exhilaration to her illustrations. Large, black print (consistently placed on each page) forms short words making this storybook an ideal choice for a pre-reader. A hungry Mouse begins this story by crawling onto the checked tablecloth and jumping excitedly at the food he sees. Fleming allows the viewer to see only the top of one white vegetable. The text on this page reads, "he ate a crisp white--". The viewer is able to guess what Mouse is going to eat by using the two adjectives that Fleming gives and the part of the vegetable made visible on the page. Excited, the viewer turns the page and on the left discovers that the "crisp white" vegetable is an immense turnip. On the right, the text reads, "tasty orange--" and there is a hint of the next vegetable that Mouse sees. A distinct pattern and predictability entices the viewer to turn the page setting an appropriate pace and encouraging the left-to-right flow. Parents will be drawn in by the unique artistic work and appealing choice of food while at the same time, the bold pictures and guessing games will make this book a favorite among listeners and emergent readers.