From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2. A toddler called Toto Gourmand (the "Hungry One") trails along after his grandmother at a Cameroon market while she shops for the ingredients for egussi soup. Toto climbs and grabs with a two year old's inquisitiveness. Told he may have one puffpuff, a type of doughnut treat, he looks for the largest, which of course is at the bottom of a pile that comes tumbling down. By the end of the shopping trip, he is covered in palm oil and sand. Once home, he eats up all the egussi soup and then falls asleep. The phrase "Oh, No, Toto!" is printed in soft pastels as a background for the text, making the refrain literally echo throughout the tale. Bootman's oil paintings have a dark palette of rich browns to capture the movements of this energetic child from precarious climbing to exhausted contentment. Although the story focuses on a toddler, the vocabulary is more appropriate for an older audience. Elements such as a glossary of Cameroonian foods, suggestions for other books set in the same country, and a recipe for soup make this book a good choice for children studying different countries. Like a spoonful of sugar, this tale is a sweet and easy way to get a taste of another culture.?Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 5^-8. When Big Mami takes Toto to market, the little boy--whose name means "the Hungry One"--promises to behave. But his appetite gets the best of him as, one by one, he devours West African dishes such as puffpuffs and koki, usually in hilarious fashion. Bootman, who illustrates the story with richly colored oil paintings, forgoes background details in favor of expressive characters rendered in photo-realistic style. Both pictures and text (including the convincing pidgin English dialect) work together to bring the distinctive Cameroon setting to life. The informative author's note, authors' and illustrator's biographies, glossary of Cameroonian food, and brief bibliography of outstanding picture books set in Cameroon enhance the book's appeal and its usefulness in the classroom. The dust-jacket recipe for the egussi (pumpkin seed) soup that Big Mami prepares and Toto devours at story's end rounds out this imaginatively designed book. Julie Corsaro
