The Seven Silly Eaters
on Goodreads (4,096)
What’s inside...
Peter wants only milk, Lucy won’t settle for anything but homemade lemonade, and Jack is stuck on applesauce. Each new addition to the household brings a new demand for a special meal. What’s a mother to do? '[A] highly comic rhyming romp that surprisingly (and nicely) twists into a birthday story.' —School Library Journal; A funny picture book about solving—finally!—a growing family's picky-eater problem!
Series reading
Non-Sequential
Age
3-7
Length
40 pages
Text complexity
Discussion points
What do you think each child in the story enjoyed the most about their favorite food?
If you could create a recipe like Mrs. Peters, what ingredients would you use and why?
How did the family work together at the end of the story? What does this tell us about teamwork?
How did Mrs. Peters feel when all her children wanted different foods? How would you feel if you were in her situation?
What can we learn about the importance of compromise from the Peters family?
Tip: Role play these questions
Encourage your child to talk about their favorite foods and why they like them, linking it back to the different preferences of the Peters’ children.
While discussing the story, ask your child to imagine and describe their own magical birthday cake, promoting creativity and personal connection to the story.
Discuss the concept of teamwork by focusing on how the family came together to bake the cake, this teaches the values of cooperation and working together.
Validate any emotions your child shares about times when they had to compromise, like the characters in the book, which helps them understand that their feelings are normal and valued.
Close your reading session by contemplating what might happen if the story continued. Ask your child what other meals the family might try to make together, encouraging them to think ahead and use their imagination.
Key lessons
Example Lesson: Cooperation and teamwork
Explanation: In the story, the seven siblings learn to work together to prepare a birthday meal for their mother, which teaches the importance of cooperation.
Real-World Application: Children can apply this lesson by participating in group activities at school or helping out with tasks at home, fostering a spirit of teamwork.
Example Lesson: Problem-solving
Explanation: The children face the challenge of combining their favorite foods and ultimately solve it by creating a unique dish together, illustrating problem-solving skills.
Real-World Application: Kids can use problem-solving skills in everyday situations, such as resolving conflicts with friends or coming up with creative solutions to challenges in their hobbies or tasks.
Example Lesson: Creativity and innovation
Explanation: By combining all their favourite but different foods into one recipe, the children display creativity, which leads to an unexpectedly delightful outcome.
Real-World Application: This encourages children to think creatively in other areas, such as arts and crafts or even in expressing themselves and their ideas.
Example Lesson: Appreciation of individual differences
Explanation: Each sibling has a unique preference, but they learn to appreciate each other's differences through the collaborative meal preparation.
Real-World Application: Children are reminded to celebrate diversity among their peers and learn to respect and appreciate different viewpoints and tastes.