Julio Servin.
Monotonous and dull in equal measures, Eat up, GEMMA is an insufferable and tediuos story written by Sarah Hayes. The idea of the book is simple the little baby Gemma doesn't want to eat anything and throws her food everytime, everywhere. Her entire family tries unsuccessfully to feed her. But one day, while in the church, Gemma sees the hat of a woman decorated with some fruits and thinks that it’s real food and tries to eat it, that gives her big brother an idea which finally encourages Gemma to eat.
What's the problem with the story, then? First, The main issue is that Eat up, Gemma pretends to be part a family problem, part a funny situation, part a pedagogical story, but not entirely satisfying on any of these levels. Second, the boring and predictable storyline is far from convincing and makes very little effort to get any children interested. Finally, the past tense chosen to tell the story is exceedingly difficult and probably inappropriate for the comprehension of a two-years child.
But if the occasional reader of this review thinks that the 24 pages of Eat up, Gemma couldn't be more frustrating, then the artwork appears. The illustrations by Jan Ormerod are not just intantly forgettable, but beginning to fade from memory even before you turn the next page. Evidently, Jan wasn't in the mood when she drew the pictures. Eat up Gemma leaves nothing to the imagination, it's a real pity because Sarah has written excellent stories like 'This is the bear' or 'Nine Ducks Nine', both are perfectly understandable to any children.
All in all, Eat up Gemma is a story written by an experienced author in an uninspired moment of her professional career. We will probably never know why this book arrived at the bookshops. Anyway, if you, parents, are considering to spend your hard-earned money on this book, well, you should think about it twice.
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