We discussed the picture book first: A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins. We
all liked it for various reasons, although one of our members felt the writing
was somewhat flat, and lacked spark. We liked the illustrations, but we had some
discussion of the little black horse that was shown on a shelf in each of the
four households. Some people didn't notice it all, one person thought it would
have been more effective in a more subtle color. We wondered whether the four
families in the book were in any way related, since this little horse seemed to
be passed town from generation to generation. Sadly, neither the author nor the
illustrator made mention of this in their ending notes. We all agreed that it
would be a great book in a school setting, since it delineated so many
historical issues related to food preparation, slavery, and ways of living in
the different eras and it could lead to good discussions and further research,
but we didn't think that a kid reading it alone would enjoy it so
much.
As for the novel, A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, we also had mixed
feelings. Some were annoyed at first by the interjections by the author in
between the tales, but said that as the book went on they appreciated the
comments. One person noted Freudian and Shakespearian undertones, which came as a
surprise to us, but totally made sense. A couple of people were worried that
some of the tales were just too gory, while others felt that kids would love
that. We also agreed that the author gave sufficient warning when gore was
approaching, so the reader could stop right there if they so desired. We agreed
that it was a quite clever construction by the author to aggregate a group of
tales about Hansel and Gretel, using the usual fairy tale elements, and that it
followed the usual quest in fairy tales, ending with 'coming home and living
happily ever after.'
