Emily Stew: With Some Side Dishes - Hardcover

In 24 poems, Emily imagines all the different people she is: romantic, sad, angry, yucky, malicious, silly, and most of all, rebellious. McPhail's full-page ink drawings show the small girl in all of her moods. Some of the poetry will appeal more to adults with its occasionally sophisticated references, including political history and literary puns: “Do not go gently into the shepherd's pie,” for example, is a response when Emily imagines that she is a potato. Still, young people will enjoy the gross-out details and silliness. In “Toad Stew,” Emily eats a single fat toad before gobbling 40 more and even a wart. Kids will also enjoy the selections featuring disobedient young people. “The Richest Girl in the World” is lazy: Why should she learn to read when she can order the best readers, and why should a princess do the dishes? Her mother has answers. Best of all are the pictures that capture the seething, realistic, humorous confrontations between parents and kids. Grades 3-6. --Hazel Rochman