Blackberry Banquet

by Terry Pierce, Lisa Downey (Illustrator)

Mmm-mm! Forest animals squeak, tweet, slurp, yip and chomp over the sweet, plump fruit of a wild blackberry bush. But what happens when a bear arrives to take part in the feast? Young children will enjoy following the story by making the animal sounds, and the chaos that strikes upon the bear's arrival will surely bring on the laughter. The cumulative, rhyming text makes for a great read-aloud.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2008

About the author

TERRY PIERCE is the author of over twenty-seven children's books, including Hello, Meadow!, Eat Up, Bear!, Love Can Come in Many Ways, Soccer Time!, Mother Earth's Lullaby, Mama Loves You So, My Busy Green Garden, Blackberry Banquet, and Tae Kwon Do! (Random House Step-Into-Reading, Bank Street College Best Children's Books 2007).

A former Montessori teacher, she now writes full-time and teaches online children's writing courses through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Reviews

[Dianne Butts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun. I like the rhymes and sounds. The story made me laugh. And a twist at the end to boot. Good information about blackberries at the end. As usual for this publisher, the illustrations are beautiful.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging pictures and a fun rhythm for reading aloud. There is supplemental material in the back, but the best supplement may just be going to pick blackberries.

[Auttumn C]

wonderful book to use to begin a lesson on consumers, producers and decomposers. This book could as be used to help students learn about sequencing. I used this book to help students understand food chains and the best part about this book is the back where facts about categories of animals is located.

[Darlene Ivy]

A cumulative story that includes many animals that rely on blackberries for food.

Great back matter including: the biology of blackberries, recipes, food web, how plants help animals, how animals help plants, and native/non-native/invasive plants.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great one about plants and animals and how they help each other.

Plus ... fun to read aloud. As long as you can get the animal sounds down.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My granddaughter liked it.

[Tina B]

"bears, forest animals, black berries, cumulative onomatopoeia, fact sheets in back"

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad kids book. The illustrations were fun.