'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Sunday 24 April 2016

Review: Can I Eat That?

Life can be so confusing. When you're young, it seems impossible that anyone would eat a snail. Or a sea urchin. Or a tornado.

Well, actually, you can't really eat a tornado, but you can eat a tonnato, a tournedos and a tostada, which sort of sound like 'tornado'.

And while we're on the topic of tornadoes, can you go pickle-picking? Well, sort of. You can pick cucumbers, yes, and then later you can pickle them for that juicy snap and tang. And what about jellyfish? If you can eat jelly and you can eat fish, can you eat jellyfish?

This gorgeous book, illustrated by one of my favourite artists, is a joy of kooky fun, plays on words and questions and answers that will have the cogs in any child's brain almost literally turning.

Peppered with clever, dry humour, Stein has created a charming non-fiction narrative that tackles the hefty topic of the origins of food... something modern day kids are increasingly disassociated with.

Do fish have fingers? No? Then what on earth are fish fingers? Do eggs grow on eggplants, and what's the story with that chicken-and-the-egg quandary?

Rothman's superb illustrations and colour palette make Can I Eat That? a highly-collectible tome for art lovers, served up on a bookish platter that will both tempt the tastebuds and elicit the odd 'ewww'. And we all know how much kids love the dichotomy of all things delicious and all things icky.

Title: Can I Eat That?
Author: Joshua David Stein
Illustrator: Julia Rothman
Publisher: Phaidon, $22.95
Publication Date: 29 February 2016
Format: Hard cover with dust jacket
ISBN: 9780714871103
For ages: 4 - 8
Type: Picture Book