Book Descriptions
for Good Enough to Eat by Brock Cole
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A penniless, homeless girl sells paper birds and stale buns in the village. The townsfolk call her Scraps-and-Smells, or Skin-and-Bones, and some even call her Sweets-and-Treats for the wares she peddles. Considered a pest and a beggar, the girl is disliked by all. A giant hungry ogre comes to town and demands a delicious bride. Volunteers are short in supply so the mayor holds a vote and the town elects to sacrifice the girl. Glad to be rid of two problems, the townsfolk leave the girl in a sack outside the gate to be taken by the ogre. With the clever use of her unfortunate names, the girl manages to escape the ogre and outwit the townsfolk. In the process, she also gains dignity and a proper identity in Brock Cole’s humorous picture book that delivers a delicious dose of comeuppance in the girl’s triumph over those who dismiss her, or never really see her at all. (Ages 5–8)
CCBC Choices 2008. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2008. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Once there was a poor girl who had no mama and no papa and nothing at all, not even a name.
But then one day an Ogre comes knocking at the town’s gate, threatening to ravage the town unless the townspeople give him one of their fair maidens. Of course they pick this poor girl to be sacrificed. They dress her in a gown and a paper crown, put her in a sack, and leave her for the Ogre. But this brave and clever girl manages to outwit the Ogre and all the townspeople, too, earning a purse full of gold, a fine sharp sword, and most important, a fitting name for herself: Good-Enough-to-Eat.
This satisfying story has the feel of a classic fairy tale, brought to life by Brock Cole’s expressive watercolors. Good Enough To Eat is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
But then one day an Ogre comes knocking at the town’s gate, threatening to ravage the town unless the townspeople give him one of their fair maidens. Of course they pick this poor girl to be sacrificed. They dress her in a gown and a paper crown, put her in a sack, and leave her for the Ogre. But this brave and clever girl manages to outwit the Ogre and all the townspeople, too, earning a purse full of gold, a fine sharp sword, and most important, a fitting name for herself: Good-Enough-to-Eat.
This satisfying story has the feel of a classic fairy tale, brought to life by Brock Cole’s expressive watercolors. Good Enough To Eat is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.