Just Try It!

K-Gr 3–This is pretty expected fare. Lil, a blond girl, and Phil, a grinning stand-in for the real Rosenthal, approach a food truck festival. They have wildly different sensibilities; Lil loves standard-issue kids’ food, and her father is up for everything. “Just try it!” he admonishes. An everything bagel opens the journey, then linguine with clams, duck with plum sauce and scallions. “No way! No way! No way!” Lil pleads, finally landing on pizza, which she loves. Her father ruins that, too, with garlic and spinach. Stuck with the mustard-covered pretzel while Phil goes off to clean his shirt, Lil is intrigued enough to try it. And likes it. She leverages that brave moment into forcing her father on to the roller-coaster. This is all silly but meant in good fun, and every child will relate to it. The illustrations are cartoon-style, and bigger-than-life, but in the end, this is a charming father-daughter tale of overcoming fears.