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Fussy Freya ISBN: 9781847800459
Grobler, Piet and Quarmby, Katharine
Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2012
This very funny take on a child who suddenly becomes a fussy eater after always having eaten everything in sight provides the perfect answer to picky kids! When Freya's mum makes dhal and jasmine rice for tea, Freya turns it down flat: 'Her mum first sighed a little and then she sighed a lot. Did Freya mind a little? Not a little, not a jot.' She then proceeds to turn down fish (she throws it on the floor), bacon, baked beans and sausages. Mum and dad are angry and worried and very upset, so Grandma Clare is called in, who promises to sort out young Freya. Freya is very pleased with this turn of events and goes off to her grandparents with delightful images of sweets in her head. They have other ideas. When they ask Freya what she would like to eat, she says: 'I'd like giraffe and warthog and monkey and brown bear.' And that's what she gets - or reasonable facsimiles of such. 'Grandma laughed a little and then she laughed a lot. Did she care when Freya whimpered? Not a little, not a jot.' So Freya has learned her lesson and comes home happily to her tea. All dad has to do if she starts developing picky tendencies again is to say that they have mashed monkey and spiced warthog in the freezer and can heat it up 'in a jiffy'. ' Daddy laughed a little, Freya laughed a lot. Did they cuddle just a little? No, they cuddled quite a lot!' The vibrant illustrations in comic style are great fun with lots of little pictures in the white spaces around the edges of the page. These tiny pictures each have a title under them, so when Freya is refusing food, we see a sausage labelled 'sausage (pork)', a piece of bacon labelled 'bacon (shoulder)' and a gravy boat labelled 'gravy boat (plated silver)'. This is a perfect example of the style and ethos of the book - crazy, sometimes weird, and great fun! Super for little picky eaters everywhere.
Age: 3+