Gregory, the Terrible Eater is about a young goat who is a picky eater. His parents do not understand why he is so picky. They offer him the best goat diet… including shoes, tires, cardboard; and, odds and ends that all goats love. Gregory doesn’t want to eat those things.
Gregory wants no part of that kind of food; he wants fruits, eggs, fish and vegetables. Well, his parents are so concerned that they send him to the doctor. They want him to eat like they eat.
The doctor asks him why he wants to eat such different things; Gregory says it’s because it is what he likes to eat. The doctor told his parents that he has treated picky eaters before and that they need to introduce new foods to him slowly; one new food a day.
Soon, Gregory is loving everything and eating way too much food. He eats so much that he makes himself sick. So he learns to eat foods in balance and in portions that are just right. His parents are happy that he has made good choices.
The book is entertaining and i think young children will relate to the concept of learning to eat a variety of foods and to eat in moderation.
The author’s name is Mitchell Sharmat and the books is illustrated by Jose Aruego and by Arian Dewey. This is the 2001 edition and it is published by Simon and Shuster Books For Young Readers. Their website is: http:// www.simonsays.com/ This is written for children from ages 5-8.
The Legend of the Valentine is an inspirational children’s book written by Katherine Grace Bond. The story is about young 9 year old Marcus who lives in Alabama during the civil rights movement; as he experiences prejudice, his grandmother teaches him about the power of love.
Young Marcus is bewildered as his father is jailed along with Dr. Martin Luther King; as far as he can see, he didn’t do anything wrong except stand up for people who were treated differently from the white folks.
Marcus’s mother is upset. Grandmother is a great story teller and since it is close to Valentine’s Day, Grandmother decides to tell Marcus about the real Valentine. Valentine was a person back in Rome in the early days of Christianity.
Valentine was also in jail because he worshipped God and not the emperor which was the law at that time. By loving his jailers and praying for the jailer’s blind daughter; she was healed. The jailer became a Christian also.
So Marcus, goes back to school where some of the children treated him poorly because of the color of his skin. He made Valentine’s with his granny for each of them. Travis, the young man who truly showed his prejudiced, came to understand that Marcus was more than the color of his skin because of the other children’s acceptance of Marcus.
Love and forgiveness heals alot. Marcus began to form relationships with the other children in his class after giving out Valentines to his classmates. Marcus followed the teachings of Jesus in loving his “enemies”.
The publisher is ZonderKidz. Their website is: http://zondervan.com/. The book is illustrated by Don Tate; copywrighted in 2001.
Rainy’s Recommendations
