“Eat Up,Gemma”

Written by Sarah Hayes
Illustrated by Jan Ormerod

Review by Eliana Romero

Lovely and humorous, “Eat up, Gemma” is an adorable book for children that shows a whole family encourage its youngest member, baby Gemma, to eat. As usual, Sarah Hayes proposes a wonderful story with nice characters in a warm familiar atmosphere. In this occasion, she describes funny situations of a family dealing with little Gemma´s problem.

The story begins with a baby girl called Gemma who refuses to eat when she hears her mother, father and grandmother say the phrase, “Eat up, Gemma.” The baby expresses her dissatisfaction through several actions; for example, she throws her breakfast on the floor, squashes grapes one by one in the market, bangs her spoon on the table, gives her cookies to the birds and even her dinner to the dog. A Sunday morning, at church, Gemma becomes interested on a lady´s hat decorated with fruit and tries to pull a grape off it. Her elder brother, who is looking at her, has a brilliant idea. At home, he finds a plate and a bowl, turns the bowl upside down and puts it on the plate. He also takes a bunch of grapes and two bananas and puts them on the plate. It looks just like the lady´s hat. Gemma starts to eat and says, “Eat up, Gemma” and her beloved ones laugh with her.

“Eat up, Gemma” is a catching book, full of warmth and humor which are reflected on Jan Ormerod´s colourful and big illustrations of a lovely family. The writer uses simple vocabulary and also a repetitive phrase which gives rhythm to the story.

Imaginative, didactic and enjoyable, “Eat up, Gemma” is a great story. It is a highly recommended book for little kids, and an interesting option for parents who want to have a funny reading time with their children.