Eat, Leo! Eat!

Brief Description: On Sunday, Leo and and family gather at Nonna's house for a big lunch. Everyone is hungry--except for Leo. Then Nonna starts telling a story that includes the star-shaped pasta in her soup. The following week, she continues the story with a different kind of pasta, and Leo's appetite for the story--and Nonna's food--grows and grows. Publisher Marketing: Leo wants no part of sitting down with his family to eat Nonna's big, delizioso lunch every Sunday. "I'm not hungry," he insists. Not hungry? Hmm. Clever Nonna gets an idea. She'll use a story to lure Leo to her table. And since the pasta in her soup, called stelline (little stars), is woven into the story about a boy who journeys to his grandmother's at night, it works. But again on the following Sunday, Leo doesn't want to eat. So Nonna expands her story, this time adding some chiancaredde (paving stones), the name of the pasta she's serving that day, to create a path for her character to follow. Now Leo's hooked. So much that he begins to badger Nonna every Sunday to reveal more pasta-based details of the story. And week by week, as Leo's relatives crowd around listening to Nonna and teasing Leo to get him to mangia (eat), he slowly comes to realize just how happy he is to have a place at this table. In this heartwarming picture book, award-winning author Caroline Adderson beautifully captures the love and tenderness Leo feels from his grandmother and the rest of his close-knit family through lively, true-to-life dialogue. The playful, detailed artwork by Jos?e Bisaillon helps bring all of them to life. This book offers a perfect framework for lessons exploring the heritage, customs and relationships of families. The unique story-within-a-story concept, along with the idea that Nonna's tale is being told cumulatively, could easily launch a storytelling assignment. Additionally, the section on pasta and the list of Italian vocabulary words make a great introduction to foreign cultures through food and language. Review Citations:

Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2015 (EAN 9781771380133, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Adderson, Caroline Caroline Adderson is the author of three novels (A History of Forgetting, Sitting Practice, The Sky Is Falling), two collections of short stories (Bad Imaginings, Pleased To Meet You) as well as books for young readers. Her work has received numerous prize nominations including the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, two Commonwealth Writers' Prizes, the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist, the Governor General's Literary Award and the Rogers' Trust Fiction Prize. Winner of two Ethel Wilson Fiction Prizes and three CBC Literary Awards, Caroline was also the recipient of the 2006 Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement. Contributor Bio:  Bisaillon, Josee Josee Bisaillon has won many awards for her illustration and was shortlisted twice for the Governor General's Award. Josee lives in Montreal, Quebec, with her husband and their three charming children.