FOOD HATES YOU, TOO, AND OTHER POEMS

Addressing picky eaters of all ages and continuing to empower food the way he did in his Giant Meatball (2008), Weinstock offers a set of verses that are often as stomach-churning as they are hilarious: “If everyone hates different food, / Then couldn’t it be true / That creamed chipped beef dislikes Gertrude / And liver gags on Lou?” While considering this proposition, readers can also make the acquaintance of Benjamin Benjamin Dietz who “repeats and repeats what he eats,” celebrate the invention of a “prehensile” utensil and take such savvy warnings as: “I’ll give you some friendly advice-cream: / Don’t order the rat-ripple ice cream.” Full-bleed cartoon art adds flavor with scenes that range from queasy-looking fairground food aboard a Ferris Wheel to a startling send-up of the Goodnight Moon bedroom featuring praying mantises (“I ate your father. Yes, it’s true. / That’s what we praying mantids do”). Definitely, as the closing poem puts it, “Food For Thought.” (Picture book/poetry. 7-11)