Review Detail

Giraffe! Walrus! Ostrich! Snake! These are just a few of the animals that are accidentally served to a young boy when he goes to a fine restaurant for dinner. A playful take on the “there’s a hair in my soup” joke, this book ups the ante, demonstrating how disruptive it would be to have an elephant in one’s soup, especially if she doesn’t know how to swim! The clever twist at the end of the book is sure to earn a grin or two, if not an outright giggle.

Burach’s illustrations are expressive and outrageous, lending themselves well to the ridiculous premise of the story. At times, his writing felt distracting to me. Enough words and phrases rhymed that I found myself wanting to read in rhythm, but since the rest of the text did not lend itself well to this, I found both silent and out-loud reading to be somewhat halting.

This book is especially well suited to a preschool audience, and with some dynamic and dramatic reading, children will love the silliness and humor of the book. This would be a good lighthearted text to supplement a theme about restaurants, zoos, wild animals, or food. Though this is not the most memorable book I have read recently, it is worth a read.