Thursday 4 October 2018

How to Feed Your Parents Book Review

We've all heard of certain children being fussy with their food but we don't see so much of this behaviour from adults. That's not to say that they aren't fussy, I mean I can tell you that I'll refuse to eat anything with mushrooms in and I'm not a huge fan of green sweets. Now Ryan Miller's latest hilarious picture book offering shows kids that their parents can be just as much of a pain as them at meal times.

how-to-feed-your-parents

Parents can be such picky eaters!

Matilda Macaroni wants to be adventurous at mealtimes, but her parents only ever want grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken nuggets on the table!

She decides that if she wants to try something new, she'll just have to cook it herself.

Once Matilda perfects paella, masters miso soup, and conquers croquettes, she knows her parents would enjoy the flavours too. 

Can she come up with a plan to show them there's more out there than cereal and pizza?


The book starts by introducing us to Matilda Macaroni.

Now Matilda doesn't want much, at this precise time all she really wants is to try some quiche, not an awful or expensive request now is it.

The trouble for her is that unfortunately her parents are picky eaters and we're soon introduced to the types of foods they like to eat. These include pizza, nuggets and burgers. I think you soon get the idea of how varied their diet is.

Now a lot of children would be looking at those meals thinking, well I like them too, what's wrong with eating that all the time?

And that's where this book gets clever.

how-to-feed-your-parents-illustrations

Ryan along with the fantastic illustrations from Hatem Aly, appear to make use of what I'd say is reverse psychology. Demonstrating things that you'd normally see young ones doing.

"Yuck!" Matilda's dad said when he saw the pot. "No way!" Matilda's mom said when she smelled the steam.

It's like the concept where you see a toddler starting to throw a paddy so you do the same to get them to stop.

Right from the get go I had a strong feeling that this book would work wonders on getting reluctant eaters to try new foods!

As the story progresses we see Matilda becoming more enthusiastic, not just about eating all the different meals but also making them.

how-to-feed-your-parents

How to Feed Your Parents really is a joy to read.

Yes there's the element about fussy eaters but there's also a few other messages thrown in for good measure. Well at least that's what I gained from reading it. And these messages included:

* Don't be afraid to try something new

* You can do anything you put your mind to

* Doing things as a family can be rewarding as well as enjoyable

Whether you are on the look out for a book just for your own fussy eater or you are trying to find a book to inject a touch of laughter into reading time, How to Feed Your Parents has got you covered and it's a book that I highly recommend.

6 comments:

  1. What a great idea to make the parents picky eaters instead of the child. It made me smile when I saw the bit that said, "There are mushrooms on it. And green things."
    My son used to complain all the time about there being green things in his food when he was younger!

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  2. Fabulous book. I must buy it and see if this approach works for son2. He is getting more and more picky and won't try anything new

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  3. I like this idea of switching the picky eaters to being the grown ups instead of the kids. Wonder if this would have any effect on my picky eater...
    #Readwithme

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  4. It's a shame I didn't come across this book five years ago! My daughter is too old for it now, but she is a very picky eater and also has a tiny appetite. It can be challenging at times.

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  5. Sounds like a great book and so helpful as children who don't eat well are challenging to understand as a parent so anything that can help would be so supportive. Thanks for the heads up about this one. #readwithme

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  6. I love this idea and I love her name too! The staple diet of a parent does sound like an average toddler's too. Thanks for hosting #readwithme

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