The Café at the Edge of the Woods
by Mikey Please (Author) Mikey Please (Illustrator)
Lemony Snicket meets Jon Klassen meets Grimms' fairy tales in an outrageously original picture book debut by BAFTA Award-winning and Oscar-nominated animation director Mikey Please. In The Café at the Edge of the Woods, an aspiring chef opens a café beside an enchanted forest and discovers locals with a most peculiar palette.
Rene and Glumfoot, are ready to serve Very Fine Cuisine at the Café at the Edge of the Woods. But when their first customer, an ogre, demands pickled bats and battered mice, Rene is ready to give up! She can't possibly serve such rubbish. Or can she?
With a little bit of compromise, perhaps she can satisfy her customer and still serve the most delicious grub.
Full of humor, unlikely friendship, themes of teamwork, and unexpected surprises, this charming and hilarious picture book is a winning recipe for readers who loved A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, The Skull by Jon Klassen, and any fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm!
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Publishers Weekly
This appealingly loathsome picture book by Please (Robin Robin) opens as its hero, determined, red-headed human Rene, builds a café at the edge of a dark forest, "beam by beam," then hires Glumfoot, a small green being with pointy ears, to wait tables. Please's sepia-tinged, theatrically lit spreads give the pages a graphic novel feel, creating ample atmosphere for the café and sympathy for its proprietor when no customers appear. Nursery-rhyme meter adds levity: "Perhaps this plot/ is the worst spot?... My hopes and dreams will turn to rot," Rene groans. Then Glumfoot goes out walking and brings back a green ogre whose "knuckles dragged upon the floor." Tension mounts as the ogre requests dishes that Rene feels are too disgusting to consider ("Bats! And slugs and battered mice!"). In a cinema-ready moment, the cook storms off into the kitchen, and the waiter performs a quiet feat of cultural translation, saving the day, and the café. A startling visual mix of elegantly plated restaurant food and friendly horror--extra points for the way Glumfoot makes each dish acceptably revolting--show how collaboration and compassion can yield surprising results. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Kirkus
A delightful and silly treat for gourmets, gourmands, and picky eaters alike.
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV012030 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | General
JUV022000 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, & Fables | General
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
