Eat Up, Gemma

From Publishers Weekly Toddler Gemma is urged to "Eat up!" But despite continual encouragement from her mother, father, grandmother and brother, Gemma refuses to comply. Instead she takes matters into her own hands: she throws her breakfast on the floor, squashes grapes one by one, bangs her spoon on the table and feeds her dinner to the dog. When Gemma finally does decide to eat, she chooses not only an unusual time and place but also a festively presented meal. Hayes first introduced the independent Gemma in Happy Christmas Gemma , and this second book is as warm and upbeat as the first. Exuberant, gaily colored illustrations complement the brief, concise text. Ages 2-6. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal PreS Gemma of Happy Christmas, Gemma (Lothrop, 1986) returns in another story told by her bemused and inventive older brother. Here she's going through that frustrating (for parents) stage of being unwilling to eat anything. She throws her breakfast on the floor, and she bangs her spoon instead of eating with it. Finally, she becomes fascinated, while at church, with the artificial fruit on the hat of the woman who sits in front of the family, which gives her older brother an idea. As before, the text does not imply race, but Ormerod extends Hayes' witty prose with warm and lively illustrations of a black family dealing with a common problem, thus adding her own dimension to the story. Gemma, as before, is a lovable creation: stretching, banging, reaching, and conveying with every line the lively curiosity of her age group. When she finally begins to eat, no one is more thrilled than Gemma, last seen triumphantly flourishing a banana. This story sustains the first book's depiction of a warm and loving family, sometimes frustrated but always willing to understand and care for its youngest member. Christine Behrmann, New York Public LibraryCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.