- 2019 Amelia Bloomer Project Top Ten, ALA
- Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
- Toronto Public Library’s First and Best List
- Best Bets List, Honourable Mention Ontario Library Association
A novel twist to a classic rhyme
Who says that little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice? Or that boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails ? What if girls were made of boats and snails and dinosaur tails? And little boys of flowers and swings and bumblebee wings?
When the traditional rhyme just doesn’t seem to fit the boy and girl visiting their grandpa, he comes up with a list of unusual alternatives. Soon the children are coming up with their own versions that challenge the old stereotypes with a whimsical list of ingredients. To add to the new quirky version are lively illustrations that beautifully capture the children’s imaginative flights of fancy.
Young readers will delight in the small details of Sonja Wimmer’s vibrant art, and be inspired to think of their own silly examples of what ingredients they might
be made of themselves.
Reviews:
“This charming twist on a treasured children’s nursery rhyme is ideal for anyone willing to explore what they are made of. Imaginations soar.”
—Foreword Reviews, *starred review, March/18
“A menagerie of delights.”
—CanLit for Little Canadians, 03/02/18
“Readers will sense that stereotypes and norms are dissolving with each page turn.”
—Publishers Weekly, 01/08/18
“A celebration of imagination and the limitlessness of life.”
—Kirkus Reviews, 02/03/18
“Filled with action and imagination.”
—Sal’s Fiction Addiction, 09/10/18
“Remix[es] traditional assumptions about gender, encouraging readers to think critically about what they’ve been taught in a non-didactic way.”
—The Globe and Mail, 09/20/18
“Mixes clever and inventive rhyme with gorgeous illustrations to turn gender stereotypes upside down.”
—Dear Author, 12/31/18