The Beastly Feast - Softcover

PreSchool-Grade 3AThe centerpiece is arranged and the table is set, ready for The Beastly Feast. Fishes bring knishes, puffins come bearing muffins, and mosquitoes bring burritos as the guests prance and zip across the pages to this deliriously raucous food fest. Young readers will delight in the chaos that ensues when the flies' pie crashes onto the festive table loaded with parrots' carrots, antelopes' cantaloupe, and other potluck dishes. They also will find it hard to resist manipulating the delicious word pairs and adding their own silly rhymes. Goldstone has created a rhyming story with a minimum of words that may remind readers of Bill Martin's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (S & S, 1989) in its exuberant beat and topsy-turvy outcome. It is Lent's fabulous illustrations, however, that place this book in its own unique class. The artist made his own paper and then printed it with colorful patterns using cut cardboard and linoleum. The resulting lively collages and layout convey a sense of movement and excitement. The rich visual details nicely balance the simple words and add complexity to an otherwise straightforward plot. This collaboration is cause for celebration; The Beastly Feast will give youngsters lots of reasons to rejoice.ABarbara Kiefer, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
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