ZERALDA'S OGRE

Rating:
Summary: Scrumptious!
Review: A grumpy pirate-like Ogre terrorizes a peasant village shutting down shops, markets and even schools because of his appetite for children. Zeralda, the daughter of a poor working man loves to cook. She cooks such great dishes that when her father falls ill and she is forced to go to market in his place she is able to save the day. Rescuing the hungry Ogre from his own clumsiness and his irrational appetite, Zeralda gives him tastes he never forgets. Soon all the Ogres want what's in Zeralda's kitchen. None want it as much as Zeralda's Ogre though. In a surprise and twisted ending, she marries him. If Disney can pull it off with Shrek, then author Tomi Ungerer should get accolades for her work too. I read this story to a large group of preschoolers and they really enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Scrumptious!
Review: A grumpy pirate-like Ogre terrorizes a peasant village shutting down shops, markets and even schools because of his appetite for children. Zeralda, the daughter of a poor working man loves to cook. She cooks such great dishes that when her father falls ill and she is forced to go to market in his place she is able to save the day. Rescuing the hungry Ogre from his own clumsiness and his irrational appetite, Zeralda gives him tastes he never forgets. Soon all the Ogres want what's in Zeralda's kitchen. None want it as much as Zeralda's Ogre though. In a surprise and twisted ending, she marries him. If Disney can pull it off with Shrek, then author Tomi Ungerer should get accolades for her work too. I read this story to a large group of preschoolers and they really enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: A good sitting on daddy's knee bed-time story
Review: The subject is very Grimm's fairy tale, an ogre that eats children; the tone, and the illustrations, are not. The ogre is shown walking down the village street with a bag over his shoulder, a child's arm is sticking out! But the picture includes lots of other details - children being hidden in cellars, and a depessed looking teacher in gown and mortarboard; the text with this picture says that children went into hiding, schools shut and teachers were unemployed. The light tone fits the story-line, which is, that the ogre accidentally comes to taste young Zeralda's wonderful cooking, goes off eating children, and they have a long, happy, life, spent throwing extravagent dinner parties (a lavish sample menu is illustrated).

Rating:
Summary: A real gem
Review: This classic book is one of my childhood favorites. Growing up, it reached mythic proportions in my memory. I recently bought it for my 2-year-old daughter, and she loves it too. It's a memorable tale of a nasty ogre who craves little children until a guileless girl converts him with her prodigy-like culinary genius.

Zeralda's Ogre is great on a number of different levels. It has a scary element that I loved when I was a kid - kind of a Grimm's Fairy Tale aspect. Now that I'm a grown-up, I recognize a terrific sly sense of humor in it as well. The illustrations are great - filled with fun little details (bugs, lizards, etc.) that little ones like to seek out. And the descriptions of Zeralda's masterpieces are great.

I can't recommend this book strongly enough - I just wish the hardcover was still in print!

Rating:
Summary: A real gem
Review: This classic book is one of my childhood favorites. Growing up, it reached mythic proportions in my memory. I recently bought it for my 2-year-old daughter, and she loves it too. It's a memorable tale of a nasty ogre who craves little children until a guileless girl converts him with her prodigy-like culinary genius.

Zeralda's Ogre is great on a number of different levels. It has a scary element that I loved when I was a kid - kind of a Grimm's Fairy Tale aspect. Now that I'm a grown-up, I recognize a terrific sly sense of humor in it as well. The illustrations are great - filled with fun little details (bugs, lizards, etc.) that little ones like to seek out. And the descriptions of Zeralda's masterpieces are great.

I can't recommend this book strongly enough - I just wish the hardcover was still in print!