Thursday, July 17, 2008

Food (and food in books) for thought

At this time last year, several CG staff members were attending Simmons College's month-long symposium on food in children's literature. The subject is still very much on our plates -- consider the deep and abiding love of a bear for his marmalade in the recent Paddington Here and Now, or Bella's precarious balance between potential mate and potential meal for vampiric beau Edward in the Twilight series.

Jane Brocket is chewing on similar themes at the Guardian. Her menu of the "Top 10 Food Scenes in Children's Literature" definitely highlights some of our favorite evocative food moments, like Jo March eating apple after apple while sobbing over her gothic romances. But why stop at ten? Children's literature is chock-full of descriptions to delight foodies of any age. Here are a few of our most memorable literary meals:
- Edmund's magical Turkish delight in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- the Baudelaire orphans' pasta puttanesca catastrophe in The Bad Beginning
- Brian's desperate meal of leathery turtle eggs in Hatchet
- end-of-year feasts in the Harry Potter series
- Charlie's Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
What are your favorite food scenes in kids' books?

And really, isn't it about time for a little smackerel of something? All this blogging is making us hungry.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In 'The Drift House' by Dale Peck, there is a dumbwaiter that delivers any food you wish for...and since you are stuck in time you never gain weight! The pancake feasts that took place in this book were to die for...