27 April 2009

Jasper McFlea will not eat his tea

by Lee Fox. Illustrated by Mitch Vane.

Lothian Children’s Books. Young Reader, Junior, Australian. Paperback rrp $16.99. Hardback rrp $28.99

Here is a book for any parent who bangs their head against the wall trying to get their children to eat. I know – I’m one of them. Jasper McFlea will not eat his tea is a good story for young fussy eaters. There is a subliminal message here – well not that subliminal!

Jasper and his twin sister, Ginger won’t eat the same food. Ginger will try all sorts of food and eats everything. Jasper won’t eat anything except pasta. Together, Jasper and Ginger spend their summer playing cricket and make it into the grand final. But Jasper progressively grows tired and sick and his playing of cricket isn’t doing the trick. (The rhyming is rubbing off on me.)

Finally, under doctor’s orders, Jasper finds the cure to ensure he helps the cricket team do well.

“‘The secret,’ he says, ‘and please do not waste it, You don’t have to eat food, you just have to taste it.’”

In my many years of struggling to get my children to eat I forgot that one simple step.

This is a very entertaining and amusing rhyming story that had my youngest in stitches. Unfortunately for me, it’s his much older brother that doesn’t like his food! But if you know of a young child out there that is reluctant about eating, let them have a giggle, and a laugh and maybe…. with a little help from Jasper McFlea… (there’s that rhyme again!) it might just be a start!

2 comments:

  1. Great review - wish we could see who wrote it! As a book reviewer myself, I enjoy reading other's reviews, and love to give them credit when I can.

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  2. Hi Book Chook
    There are a number of reviewers within the reading stack but I can safely say that this review was mine - Barbara Brown - Senior Editor. We do however acknowledge our guest reviewers. We are a bit shy here but we are gradually coming out of our skins. You can tell my reviews - I'm the mother with young kids and love the teenage genre - wishing back to that time!

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