The Worst Breakfast

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From School Library Journal --------------------------- K-Gr 3—The usual breakfast routine takes a wonderfully odd turn one day. Two unnamed sisters sit around the table one morning and recall the worst breakfast they've ever had. What starts out with tales of burning toast turns into accounts of "steaming slick tomatoes oozing into RANCID swill." The descriptions of this bizarre meal become increasingly more grotesque, causing the sisters to dread their upcoming breakfast. Then, out of the giant cracked eggs emerge dinosaurlike creatures that create havoc in the kitchen. The honey attracts large, menacing bees. The sausages multiply and become food for the octopuses, squid, and other creatures feasting on the gnarly meal. The over-the-top descriptions reflect young kids' tendency to exaggerate. Eventually, the sisters realize that their meal is not that bad and are grateful for the food in front of them. Miéville, known for his genre-defying fantasy novels for adults, makes a splash with his picture book debut. Smith's illustrations, filled with geometric shapes and patterns, are the perfect complement to the text, although younger readers may have a hard time making out what's happening in the frenetic mixed-media images. VERDICT Perhaps not a first purchase, this is a subversive delight for those younger readers prone to embellishment.—Christopher Lassen, BookOps: The New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) About the Author ---------------- China Miéville is the author of numerous books, including The City & The City, Embassytown, Railsea, and Perdido Street Station. His works have won the World Fantasy Award, the Hugo Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award (three times). He lives and works in London. Zak Smith is an artist who first came to prominence with his mammoth work Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow. Smith's paintings and drawings are held in major public and private collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He lives and works in Los Angeles and tries to answer all of his mail. Read more ( javascript:void(0) )