A great book for kids and parents alike (I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato - Lauren Child)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato - Lauren Child
Date:	20/06/09 (36 review reads)
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Charlie and Lola are the main characters in a series of books by Lauren Child . They is also a TV series based on the books .

Lola is an energetic, independant little girl of 4 years old, and Charlie is the unendingly patient big brother, who, as all big brothers should, looks out for his little sister , making sure her imagination doesn't lead her into too much mischief . He's also the narrator of the book .

The plot is really very simple - Charlie has to supervise Lola eating her dinner, and Lola, like many little girls (in fact, extraordinarily like my own daughter) is a fussy eater - peas are too small and green to even bother with, and carrots are strictly for rabbits , NOT for little girls .

Charlie resorts to a trick I'm sure many of us parents recognise - renaming foods and bringing an element of fun and imagination to dinnertimes . Carrots are no longer carrots, but orange twisters from the planet jupiter, and mashed potatoes are now cloud fluff, freshly plucked from the sky .

Each item of food becomes something else, and Lola tries them all excitedly - after all, cloud fluff is far more exiting than mashed potato. The book ends with Lola eating a tomato - something she said she would 'Never, not ever' eat, and surprised Charlie by renaming it herself - it's no longer a tomato but a moon squirter.

My daughter enjoyed this book - I actually purchased it for her because of the title (my daughter despises tomato). She's 6, and found it simple to read, in fact it may have been just a tiny bit too easy for her , but I like books that she can read independently, and she's turning into a little bookworm .

The illustrations in this book are charming - a mixture of collage, photography, and drawings in crayon and pen . This is a very distinctive style used by Lauren Child in most of her books, and is instantly recognisable .

Although this is a kids book, I have to admit I enjoyed it too- the similarities between Lola and my own Daughter made me smile, and having resorted to the same tactic as Charlie to get her to eat her dinner, I found it amusing . In my house, brocolli florets are fairy trees, and meatballs are pixie footballs, so it was a very familiar situation.

My daughter has actually started to be a little less fussy in her eating now - and while I can't credit that entirely to the book, I do think it helped . She says 'Lola is younger than me, and if she can be brave and try new foods, I can be too, because I'm bigger'.

She still hates tomatoes though.

This book has a cover price of 5.99, although I'm sure if you look around you can find it cheaper. I'd definitely recommend it it for any young child, not just fussy eaters .

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