Snap! Crunch! Munch? ­

PreS-Gr 2–The sound of the doorbell has a young boy hurrying downstairs to greet his family as they arrive for dinner. Readers see the various dishes that are carried in and placed on the table. During the meal, the young protagonist imagines each of his relatives as a different animal based on their favorite foods. Aunt Gloria reminds him of a giraffe because she loves salad, while his papa enjoys meat and resembles a lion. Colorful illustrations capture his Uncle Carlos, visualized as a flamingo nibbling on shrimp, and his cousins as mischievous rabbits who manage to flip a plantain across the table to hit him on the head. The boy narrates the story with comments such as, “Me? I love all food!” or “Everyone loves dessert.” Other than the initial greetings as the family enters the house, speech bubbles are used for onomatopoeic accompaniments to the meal: snap, crunch, munch, and so on. The limited word count along with the humorous scenes in the boy’s imagination welcome even reluctant readers into the story.