Fancy a chimp for your dinner? (Yummy Yummy! Food for My Tummy! - Sam Lloyd)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Yummy Yummy! Food for My Tummy! - Sam Lloyd
Date:	30/05/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A simple but fun story.

Disadvantages: None

This book has been written by Sam Lloyd and illustrated by Jack Tickle. It was first published in 2003 by Little Tiger Press.

The story tells of two chimps called George and Jess who live on two small islands which are opposite each other. One day they decide that they wold really like to play together but there is one big problem; the water between both islands is infested with sharks. The chimps experiment with different ways in which to try and conquer the shark infested water without being eaten but none of their ideas work and they almost get eaten a few times. Eventually they give up trying to play together and accidentally stumble on a plan.

The book reads really well and is very simple for my two year old to understand. There is a phrase, which is the name of the book, that the sharks chant as the chimps try to get across the water. This encourages a child to remember and join in with the story.

The text is very big and is the standard run-of-the-mill version but the names of each chimp looks as though it's written by a small child. I think Lloyd must have grabbed one of his children and asked then to write 'George' and 'Jess' and printed this onto the book.

I love the illustrations in this book. The chimps look like very friendly animals and the sharks look a little fierce without looking too unfriendly. The whole book has a cartoony style to it and each page is filled from top to bottom with pictures and colour.

On the side of the book there is a part missing which looks as though one of the sharks has biten through the whole thing. This really gives the book character and made it stand out from the others on the shelf.

I really enjoyed this book and it's one of those stories that doesn't get boring to read. It was really interesting to see what silly idea the chimps would come up with next and I enjoyed discussing with Noah, whether he thought it would work or not. I found the pictures very appealing and I thouroughly enjoyed looking at them. I liked the fact that it took the chimps a while to actually give up as I try to teach Noah to have patience and if he can'tdo something first time around, to keep trying.

Noah loved this story too and really enjoyed chanting 'Yumm, Yummy, food for my tummy!'. Once we had read the story a few times he would get excited when the line was approaching and shout it out. He enjoyed the pictures too and took a liking to counting the sharks teeth. He also couldn't resist running his over the missing piece on the front of the book and over all I think he found it quite funny.

I would definately recommend this one as it's a fun and wepll put together story with a simple idea.

Summary: A fun read that is enjoyable for both adults and children.