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

Thursday 6 February 2020

Review: Beast Feast

You have been cordially invited to a Beast Feast – this is no ordinary dinner party. Only the finest ingredients have been prepared along with a selective guest list.

Meet Beast, a hungry, giant, pink, furry well beast. Who on a very dark gloomy hungry day manages to catch dinner – a young boy. Only to discover Dinner was not very happy about being dinner?

Beast is so happy with his prize catch that he draws up an invitation for his friends to share in his good fortune. 

Dinner looks worried, he doesn’t want to be the main course at the Beast Feast. Soon Beast receives his first reply and his friends do not disappoint. They send recipes along with their dietary requirements.

Beast decides he needs to fatten Dinner up if he is going to be the star of the meal. But Dinner has a suggestion, lets make a delicious chocolate cake together – that will certainly fatten him up. Beast agrees that this is a great idea and together they enjoy making the cake and eating it.

As more friends reply with dietary requests, Dinner has more suggestions for Beast; for extra saltiness let’s visit the seaside and go swimming, mud and slime can be found if they visit the swamp and since dinner needs to be extra chilled why not build a snow monster in the snow outside.

Beast and Dinner have a fabulous time exploring all these suggestions – but has it been enough for Beast to give Dinner a reprieve from being eaten? Beast is not sure what his friends will think of him if he doesn’t deliver dinner as promised. Will they think less of him?

This beautifully written and illustrated book has letters interspersed throughout the story. Allowing the reader to interact with the story and discover what Beast’s friends have written back to him including a recipe for Cockroach Cola – not sure how popular that will be. But then there is always Slime soup, Eyeball Sushi or Fingernails and Chips to try. 

Title: Beast Feast
Author & Illustrator: Emma Yarlett
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd, $24.99
Publication Date: 1 October 2019
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781406386639
For ages: 2 - 6
Type: Picture Books