Did you make 'mud pies' as a child? I certainly did, gathering dirt, leaves and even small pebbles to make wonderful imaginary food which was shared with friends. All of that happens in this book along with scrumptious illustrations and a simple direct text which invites young the reader to join in:
"Something that we all can do, let's make garden stew."
This is a wonderful book to share with a preschool child. Grab your toys, utensils, bowls and imagination and head outside. The ingredients are simple - mud, water, leaves, flower petals, stones and sand. Mix it well then add a few gumnuts, twigs and feathers. Now it is time to share your stew.
"Let's pretend we at it all! We love garden stew. Do you?"
Take a closer look at the front cover. I was always intrigued by the idea of the old woman who lived in a shoe. Here we have a watering can house - red with white polka dots - I love this image. Next stop the end papers which are fine textured patterns - front and back are different. One more thing - the animals who play their game of making stew are Quokkas! I didn't realise this until I read the blurb where I also found the names of our pair of friends - Tattie and Tiny Spud.
How cute is the Quokka - he/she needs to appear in more picture books. I did find these two books Clancy the Quokka (2019) by Lili Wilkinson and Can a Quokka Quack? (2018) by Jolly Read.
With a preschool audience you might also like to consider some of the words used in this book: stew, ladle, pluck, brew, prefer, bowls, pour.
Carrie Gallasch is an early childhood teacher and she lives in South Australia. I did enjoy her earlier books Stitches and Stuffing and Cherries.
The illustrator Zoe Ingram from Scotland has an extensive web site which is well worth exploring. I was excited to see she has illustrated this cookery book.
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