2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Survivor-Like Challenge at Elementary School, December 13, 2005
Although young Beetle McGrady yearns for the adventure and fame achieved by Amelia Earhart, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Marco Polo, all she gets is a dare to eat an ant during "Fun with Food Week." She decides that eating insects is pretty mundane, especially when she just can't get one past her mouth. All this changes when Chef Suzanne, the Paul Prudhomme of insect cuisine, comes to school with such delights as toasted cricket, Chinese chop-suey ants, grasshopper tacos, and Mexican stinkbug salsa! In a truly gross-out scene, Beetle is shown with a cricket leg sticking out of her mouth, with another speared cricket on the way. Beetle's adventuresome spirit (and hardcore stomach) earns her the pioneer status that she craved.
Jane Manning's prose captures the free-flowing rhythms of the school day, and the kids' talk is realistic, including both good-natured teasing and supportive reassurance. The story is on the frenetic side, especially with the arrival of the zany chef Suzanne, and there's a madcap tangle of bugs and kids after her arrival. The writing is generally fun to read:
"She closed her eyes. She, Beetle McGrady, set the itchy-twitchy, buggly-wuggly ant on the tip of her tongue. The ant was tickly. The ant was creepy. The ant was crawly. If she ate the ant, she would be a real explorer. A true pioneer. Beetle A-for-Anteater McGrady!"
McDonald also includes some fun-with-food humor. Roger calls falafel "Awful-awful," Lacey claims that succotash gives you a rash, and, in a statement so precise and egocentric that it rings especially true, Mona complains that "Fish eggs smell like caviar."
Jane Manning `s exaggerated drawings of Suzanne and the fleshy, big-faced kids have a "Mad Magazine" look, and she spares little in her depictions of cooked bugs. Still, the book is not entirely consistent. Beetle's fun tips on eating bugs ("Can't eat a mealworm? Close your eyes and pretend it's spaghetti--slurp!") contrast with pictures of smiling bugs holding anti-bug eating protest signs. Only those who like a fairly high gross-out factor will enjoy viewing the insect dishes and McGrady's eating. Moreover, while this is a silly, obviously far-fetched yarn, the repeated connection between bug eating and self-esteem is a reach. Still, there is an audience for juvenile culinary adventures--just try to make sure you know yours before sampling this one!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, whimsical, not to be taken seriously, May 22, 2008
My daughter loves this book. I like it myself because the main character is spunky and not a girlie-girl worshipping the almighty Disney Princesses. The drawings are so vivid and comical, and the story is very funny. Who cares what Laura Ingalls Wilder ACTUALLY ate, this is not to be taken seriously. It's not meant to be a documentary on the American prairie eating habits. Just watching my toddler say "icky" out loud when Beetle McGrady spits out the ant..is worth it: you can tell that she is really engaged while I read the story. No, I'm not worried that she will try to eat bugs. If you want to take everything seriously: to me, it's a story of being more open-minded about the customs of people from other cultures.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disgusting and inaccurate, July 19, 2006
Reading this book to my daughter made me want to gag. Thankfully it was a library book. Also, the book says that Laura Ingalls Wilder at cricket pie. She ate BLACKBIRD pie, not cricket pie! (a much less disgusting choice in my book)
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