Feast for 10 ANNOTATION
Numbers from one to ten are used to tell how members of a family shop and work together to prepare a meal.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A counting book that features an African-American family shopping for food, preparing dinner, and sitting down to eat. Lively read-aloud text.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A family's dinner preparations, from supermarket to table, are the foundation of what PW dubbed a ``cozy counting book.'' Ages 4-8. (Feb.)
Children's Literature - Dr. Beverly Kobrin and Marilyn Courtot
Falwell's Feast for Ten takes young readers on a trip to the grocery store and back home again through a family shopping experience every child can relate to. What makes this little board book different is that it goes through the counting sequence twice—once while shopping and again on the arrival home where the big dinner is prepared. On the closing pages kids see the extended family gathered at the table enjoying the feast that all of had a hand in preparing. Author/artist Falwell's collage illustrations are clear and counting the objects on each page is but one aspect of the book's fun. It is a warm family story, which has been reissued as a board book, that features African-Americans. 2003 (orig. 1993), Clarion/Houghton Mifflin, Ages 2 up.
Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin
Cathryn Falwell's Feast for Ten takes young readers on a trip to the grocery store and back home again through a family shopping experience every child can relate to. Author/artist Falwell's illustrations are clear and counting the objects on each page is but one aspect of the book's fun.
School Library Journal
PreS-K-- In this rhyming counting book, an African-American mother and her children shop for and prepare a festive family dinner. At the supermarket, the count begins with one grocery cart and ends with ten hands helping to load the car. Back at home, the father joins in the preparations and the numbers build a second time to ``ten hungry folks'' seated around a table ready to share a tasty meal of fried chicken and greens. The successful rhyme scheme builds a natural rhythm that helps the simple text read smoothly. Collage illustrations combine colored paper, patterned fabrics, and felt in a clear, uncluttered design. Muted colors and simple shapes are set off by a stark white background. Most of the figures, especially the baby girl with her rounded limbs and bouncing braids, are animated and expressive. At times, however, facial features seem slightly stilted and relentlessly cheerful. Still, this is an appealing glance at a typical extended family. --Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
BookList - Julie Corsaro
Impressive collages featuring an affectionate African American family will provide youngsters with the opportunity to count from 1 to 10, not once but twice. In the first sequence, an urban mother and her five children shop for food that is suggestive of their rural southern roots: "Two pumpkins for pie / three chickens to fry / . . . five kinds of beans / six bunches of greens." In the second, they work together (Dad recycles) to prepare dinner for their extended family. Using cut paper and cloth, Falwell has created appealing figures that are solid, highly textured, and convincing. The easy-to-identify forms, the descriptive sentences naming the objects to be counted, and the brightly patterned fabric numerals are set off against expansive white space. A joyful celebration of family and food
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