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Food Hates You, Too and Other Poems
Let's face it, there are some foods we'd just rather steer clear of. But have you ever stopped to think that plate of fries might just as soon feed you to the dog, as well? These playful, quirky poems highlight all the delightful absurdities of our most favorite -- and hated -- meals.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 24, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 26, 2022
Most children have probably never wondered what their food thinks of them, nor considered what sort of lullaby a praying mantis might sing to her offspring, but that won't prevent them from taking Robert Weinstock's wacky Food Hates You, Too to heart. With nineteen amusing poems, all addressing the issue of eating in one way or another, this little collection will appeal to young readers' sense of the absurd.
As other reviewers have noted, the author uses an expansive vocabulary, but it is the rhyming sing-song quality of his poems, together with the creative (and slightly gross) mixed media illustrations, that really make this picture-book collection worthwhile. I myself particularly relished the send-up of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon in Mom, but there's plenty here to give readers young and old a chuckle.
As other reviewers have noted, the author uses an expansive vocabulary, but it is the rhyming sing-song quality of his poems, together with the creative (and slightly gross) mixed media illustrations, that really make this picture-book collection worthwhile. I myself particularly relished the send-up of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon in Mom, but there's plenty here to give readers young and old a chuckle.
May 14, 2010
If I could build a giant straw,
I'd guzzle up the sky,
Plus every star you ever saw.
I would. Just watch me try.
This is a fun little collection of poems related to food, accompanied by amusing illustrations. Amusing and sometimes clever, but I suspect lacking in staying power. I can remember the poets my siblings and I read as kids: Ogden Nash and Edward Lear, Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. We read their volumes so many times that we memorized all our favorites poems. I remember jumping up and down on the bed with my brother, the two of us shouting out the lines to "Homework o homework I hate you! You stink!" with great passion. When my sister was restless as I baby I would soothe her by reciting "Jabberwocky" or "The Owl and the Pussycat". I can't imagine wanting to reread this book enough times to memorize it.
I did like the way the collection continued onto the inside of the cover, ending with an miniaturization of the illustration at which one is looking and the verse
You may not know your brain is eating
Every word you've just been reading.
Its appetite is most exceeding.
Food for thought, worth oft repeating.
I'd guzzle up the sky,
Plus every star you ever saw.
I would. Just watch me try.
This is a fun little collection of poems related to food, accompanied by amusing illustrations. Amusing and sometimes clever, but I suspect lacking in staying power. I can remember the poets my siblings and I read as kids: Ogden Nash and Edward Lear, Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. We read their volumes so many times that we memorized all our favorites poems. I remember jumping up and down on the bed with my brother, the two of us shouting out the lines to "Homework o homework I hate you! You stink!" with great passion. When my sister was restless as I baby I would soothe her by reciting "Jabberwocky" or "The Owl and the Pussycat". I can't imagine wanting to reread this book enough times to memorize it.
I did like the way the collection continued onto the inside of the cover, ending with an miniaturization of the illustration at which one is looking and the verse
You may not know your brain is eating
Every word you've just been reading.
Its appetite is most exceeding.
Food for thought, worth oft repeating.
March 13, 2009
I wanted to love this book with all my heart. But I only loved the following parts. The rest sucked.
Favorite Quotes:
For Pearl, who I will eat one day
Toast:
There was a piece of bread named Ned.
Whose twin bread brother's name was Fred.
They idly lived within a loaf,
Until one day I ate them both.
And now, I'm sad to say, they're dead.
(accompanied by an illustration of two tombstones in the shape of toast. Haha, the bread is toast. I laughed out loud. Twice.)
Food for Thought:
You may not know your brain is eating
Every word you've just been reading.
Favorite Quotes:
For Pearl, who I will eat one day
Toast:
There was a piece of bread named Ned.
Whose twin bread brother's name was Fred.
They idly lived within a loaf,
Until one day I ate them both.
And now, I'm sad to say, they're dead.
(accompanied by an illustration of two tombstones in the shape of toast. Haha, the bread is toast. I laughed out loud. Twice.)
Food for Thought:
You may not know your brain is eating
Every word you've just been reading.
June 2, 2009
We children’s librarians spend a lot of time discussing the book jackets of children’s novels or non-fiction selections. Now consider how often you critique a picture book’s cover. Once a week? Twice? Or are you like me and you hardly ever think to critique them at all? I confess that I take a lot of picture book jackets for granted. Every consumer, whether they mean to or not, judges books by their covers. It’s the natural course of things. It’s how the world works. So when I see a really good cover, I mean a really really good picture book cover, I should give fair credit where credit is due. And I consider Food Hates You, Too and Other Poems to be a wonderful example of a successful picture book jacket. There’s something about the title combined with that big old tomato blowing you a raspberry (so to speak) that appeals to kids and adults alike. As collections of poetry go, Robert Weinstock has a fine and twisted sense of humor that may not be entirely consistent, but at least stands out in the field.
Nineteen poems. Nineteen straaaaaaange poems. In them, food gets its due. Whether it’s the contemplation of the taste of space, the recommendation of one cat-related ice cream flavor over another, or an ode to toast long departed, Robert Weinstock has a strange but consistent feel for what works as a poem. Kids reading this book will find themselves locating limericks, sonnets, and other forms. You ain’t never seen anything quite like it before.
Now in terms of the poems themselves, they’re a bit touch and go. Some work better than others. I was quite fond of “Eleanor Isabel Abigail Rhoda” (any poem that rhymes "South Dakota" with "small iota" has my respect) and “Mom” (more about that one later). Sadly the titular poem “Food Hates You, Too” didn’t quite gel for me. The lines scan, sure but the concept is tough. Each line argues that maybe different kinds of kids gross out different kinds of foods (rather than the other way around). So you have sentences like, “That Trudys gross out rainbow trout, / And Rachels skeeve out schmaltz? / That Tommys make pastramis pout, / And sardines cringe at Walts?” You can see what Weinstock’s going for here, but it’s almost too ambitious. Taken as a whole the poem is too long for its concept, and so it drags a bit in the telling. There were others that also didn't work, but the poem “Cheese Sonnet” grew on me. At first I discounted it... then I noticed how nice a little sonnet it was. Strange? Oh heavens my yes. But in a good way.
I’m one of those swelled head librarian types. I like to think that I’m familiar with all the children’s books out there. That a name like “Robert Weinstock” would stick in my little cranium. But as I read through this book I was under the distinct impression that this was the first Weinstockian fare I’d tasted before. Then I got to the what would become by favorite poem “Mom”. It’s basically Goodnight Moon, only with husband-eating praying mantises (Mantids? Manti?) talking about devouring their mates. Trust me, it works. I admired the little details around the room. The fact that the little mantis in bed has four little slippers sitting on the floor. The spiders that are providing mommy mantis’s knitting material. And then I glanced over at the bedside table and what did I see? Why, none other than a copy of one of the strangest and most enjoyably weird picture books I’ve read in years, Giant Meatball. Giant Meatball? Giant Meatball! I’ve read Robert Weinstock before because he wrote Giant Meatball! That makes an infinite amount of sense now that I’ve put two-and-two together. After all, only a guy who tells a story about an inconsiderate house-sized meatball is going to come up with poems about sweet-flavored meats and meat-flavored sweets. I’m just sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.
Though it’s drawn in a rough colored pencil kind of way, Food Hates You, Too is chock full of amusing details right from the start. For example, there’s the table of contents, a section that most poetry books throw together without a second thought. Here, however, you see that the contents are (appropriately enough) within a person’s body. The person is all bones (the funny bones are giving off tiny “ha ha”s) and if you look closely you’ll see that the person is covering up their private portions with their hands. It’s not immediately apparent, but great when you catch it. Throughout the book you'll also see small creatures make snarky comments to varying degrees of amusement. My favorite? Undoubtedly the shellfish that accompany the poem “Pernicious”. Says one “That’s not kosher!” Says the other one, “Neither are we”. I’m a big proponent of children’s books that contain in-jokes for the adults that have to read them over and over and over again. So in this way, Mr. Weinstock wins.
And just to go back to Giant Meatball for a moment, how weird is it that Mr. Weinstock likes to give pink normally inanimate objects socks and loafers? The Giant Meatball was a shoe wearing bloke. And looking at this book so too is the brain on the last (very last) page. Pink wobbly thing with socks and loafers it is. Psychologically mesmerizing.
To be perfectly frank, the books that would pair most perfectly with this title would be Adam Rex’s Frankenstein fare (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Frankenstein Takes the Cake respectively). Rex and Weinstock share a fine appreciation for the gross coupled with the snort-worthy. In a way, this book felt to me like the lovechild of Adam Rex and Shel Silverstein. Goofy, mildly disturbing, almost always funny fare. In the end, I’m willing to overlook a wonky poem or two if it means I get to read a book full of clever details and cleverer rhyme schemes. Definitely recommended for those kids who want to read poetry that always keeps ‘em guessing. Cause brother, you will have no way of predicting the products of Robert Weinstock’s brain.
Ages 5-10.
Nineteen poems. Nineteen straaaaaaange poems. In them, food gets its due. Whether it’s the contemplation of the taste of space, the recommendation of one cat-related ice cream flavor over another, or an ode to toast long departed, Robert Weinstock has a strange but consistent feel for what works as a poem. Kids reading this book will find themselves locating limericks, sonnets, and other forms. You ain’t never seen anything quite like it before.
Now in terms of the poems themselves, they’re a bit touch and go. Some work better than others. I was quite fond of “Eleanor Isabel Abigail Rhoda” (any poem that rhymes "South Dakota" with "small iota" has my respect) and “Mom” (more about that one later). Sadly the titular poem “Food Hates You, Too” didn’t quite gel for me. The lines scan, sure but the concept is tough. Each line argues that maybe different kinds of kids gross out different kinds of foods (rather than the other way around). So you have sentences like, “That Trudys gross out rainbow trout, / And Rachels skeeve out schmaltz? / That Tommys make pastramis pout, / And sardines cringe at Walts?” You can see what Weinstock’s going for here, but it’s almost too ambitious. Taken as a whole the poem is too long for its concept, and so it drags a bit in the telling. There were others that also didn't work, but the poem “Cheese Sonnet” grew on me. At first I discounted it... then I noticed how nice a little sonnet it was. Strange? Oh heavens my yes. But in a good way.
I’m one of those swelled head librarian types. I like to think that I’m familiar with all the children’s books out there. That a name like “Robert Weinstock” would stick in my little cranium. But as I read through this book I was under the distinct impression that this was the first Weinstockian fare I’d tasted before. Then I got to the what would become by favorite poem “Mom”. It’s basically Goodnight Moon, only with husband-eating praying mantises (Mantids? Manti?) talking about devouring their mates. Trust me, it works. I admired the little details around the room. The fact that the little mantis in bed has four little slippers sitting on the floor. The spiders that are providing mommy mantis’s knitting material. And then I glanced over at the bedside table and what did I see? Why, none other than a copy of one of the strangest and most enjoyably weird picture books I’ve read in years, Giant Meatball. Giant Meatball? Giant Meatball! I’ve read Robert Weinstock before because he wrote Giant Meatball! That makes an infinite amount of sense now that I’ve put two-and-two together. After all, only a guy who tells a story about an inconsiderate house-sized meatball is going to come up with poems about sweet-flavored meats and meat-flavored sweets. I’m just sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.
Though it’s drawn in a rough colored pencil kind of way, Food Hates You, Too is chock full of amusing details right from the start. For example, there’s the table of contents, a section that most poetry books throw together without a second thought. Here, however, you see that the contents are (appropriately enough) within a person’s body. The person is all bones (the funny bones are giving off tiny “ha ha”s) and if you look closely you’ll see that the person is covering up their private portions with their hands. It’s not immediately apparent, but great when you catch it. Throughout the book you'll also see small creatures make snarky comments to varying degrees of amusement. My favorite? Undoubtedly the shellfish that accompany the poem “Pernicious”. Says one “That’s not kosher!” Says the other one, “Neither are we”. I’m a big proponent of children’s books that contain in-jokes for the adults that have to read them over and over and over again. So in this way, Mr. Weinstock wins.
And just to go back to Giant Meatball for a moment, how weird is it that Mr. Weinstock likes to give pink normally inanimate objects socks and loafers? The Giant Meatball was a shoe wearing bloke. And looking at this book so too is the brain on the last (very last) page. Pink wobbly thing with socks and loafers it is. Psychologically mesmerizing.
To be perfectly frank, the books that would pair most perfectly with this title would be Adam Rex’s Frankenstein fare (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Frankenstein Takes the Cake respectively). Rex and Weinstock share a fine appreciation for the gross coupled with the snort-worthy. In a way, this book felt to me like the lovechild of Adam Rex and Shel Silverstein. Goofy, mildly disturbing, almost always funny fare. In the end, I’m willing to overlook a wonky poem or two if it means I get to read a book full of clever details and cleverer rhyme schemes. Definitely recommended for those kids who want to read poetry that always keeps ‘em guessing. Cause brother, you will have no way of predicting the products of Robert Weinstock’s brain.
Ages 5-10.
January 24, 2021
Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 2-6th
This book was okay. I think the kids would get a kick out of some of the silly poems, but some of them where just a little odd. I think this book may be good to introduce some vocab words and examples of poems but I think you could definitely find some better poetry to use as example texts. It would be a fun book to have in your classroom library but maybe not something you integrate into your lessons as much.
Grade Level: 2-6th
This book was okay. I think the kids would get a kick out of some of the silly poems, but some of them where just a little odd. I think this book may be good to introduce some vocab words and examples of poems but I think you could definitely find some better poetry to use as example texts. It would be a fun book to have in your classroom library but maybe not something you integrate into your lessons as much.
April 4, 2019
Grade: Preschool-2
Poems
The poem the book is named after is probably my favorite in this collection of poems. I think it would be good to read to children who are picky eaters and won't even give some foods a try.
Poems
The poem the book is named after is probably my favorite in this collection of poems. I think it would be good to read to children who are picky eaters and won't even give some foods a try.
April 9, 2019
While some of the poems (and most of the illustrations) are clever, it left something to be desired. I like clever poems for children, and appreciated the author's sense of form (in some of the poems), but as a whole, it wasn't my favorite.
April 13, 2021
Most of these poems are short enough to memorize without meaning to! I liked the colorful art.
March 17, 2011
This was a book of quirky, silly poems with a food and drink theme. The title poem, "Food Hates You, Too" was one of my favorites. Key line: "The Brads are loathed by brussels sprouts", while a picture of gossipy sprouts criticize, "What kind of name is Brad?!".
I really liked the illustrations, which complimented and expanded the ideas in the (mostly) short poems. In "Benjamin Benjamin Dietz" (who repeats and repeats what he eats), the poem is matched by replicated rows of "canned sugary meats" reminiscent of a Warhol painting.
There is a very creepy "Mom" poem accompanied by a picture straight out of "Good Night Moon". This mom is no sweet rabbit; she lulls her son to sleep with her confession of murdering his dad (but she is a praying mantis!).
There is also a eulogy to twin pieces of toast. Dead of course, because they were eaten for breakfast.
And then there is the "Cheese Sonnet" chronicling the life story of a hunk of cheese (Did his life begin in a pail? Or in a cow? "I'm not a cow. Never was"). It's quite a sad sonnet, because, well life stinks when you smell worse than feet.
I really liked the illustrations, which complimented and expanded the ideas in the (mostly) short poems. In "Benjamin Benjamin Dietz" (who repeats and repeats what he eats), the poem is matched by replicated rows of "canned sugary meats" reminiscent of a Warhol painting.
There is a very creepy "Mom" poem accompanied by a picture straight out of "Good Night Moon". This mom is no sweet rabbit; she lulls her son to sleep with her confession of murdering his dad (but she is a praying mantis!).
There is also a eulogy to twin pieces of toast. Dead of course, because they were eaten for breakfast.
And then there is the "Cheese Sonnet" chronicling the life story of a hunk of cheese (Did his life begin in a pail? Or in a cow? "I'm not a cow. Never was"). It's quite a sad sonnet, because, well life stinks when you smell worse than feet.
February 19, 2015
This book is filled with a lot of lyrical, nonsense poems and very vivid illustrations. The poems are really funny, and there is a wide variety of them. One poem is a recipe for the ocean, one is about a strange invention, and my personal favorite is about food disliking people in the way that some people dislike food. These poems are definitely nonsensical, but they have very good rhyming patters to them, which makes them fun and easy to read. I think this would be a great book for first and second graders, and it would be great to read out loud to them. A lot of the poems use a great deal of personification, so the kids would have to use their imagination when picturing the poems, so it really celebrates children's imaginations. This is a poetry book I would possibly use in my classroom. I could use it for an art project or to lead into a writing project. Other than that, the book does not have a lot of educational aspects to it, other than it being a fun way to teach about poetry.
March 2, 2015
These poems are about different foods, some that you may hate and some that you might love. These are cute poems for students because they will be able to relate to most of them. The pictures are very detailed and sometimes funny. Some of the poems are even on the backgrounds of other children books like Goodnight Moon. While reading these poems you can see if your students can recognize these backgrounds.
April 21, 2019
Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 2nd-6th
This is a silly book about picky eaters. It was fun to read because the author used lots of rhyming words to create silly poems about things to which kids could relate such as only liking one kind of food. It could be used to show children that even though everyone has their own likes and dislikes, it is ok to be unique. It might also be a good way to introduce a lesson on nutrition and healthy eating for older children.
Grade Level: 2nd-6th
This is a silly book about picky eaters. It was fun to read because the author used lots of rhyming words to create silly poems about things to which kids could relate such as only liking one kind of food. It could be used to show children that even though everyone has their own likes and dislikes, it is ok to be unique. It might also be a good way to introduce a lesson on nutrition and healthy eating for older children.
March 14, 2009
I thought this book was hilarious. But there were also poems in it that were maybe not as yucking-it-up hardy-har funny but more contemplative, like Recipe and Monday that were nice to read and think about. Quieter...that's the word I was looking for. And the pictures were punchy and not too cluttered and weird in a really good way. Super tasty fixins overall!
July 9, 2009
Reminiscent of Adam Rex's "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich" and Shel Silverstein's stuff (especially Weinstock's poems "Eleanor Isabel Abigail Rhoda" and "Benjamin Benjamin Dietz"), this will be a welcome, fun addition to poetry units. I like the tiny asides of the characters in drawings, like the birds who say the "Toast" poem was crumby.
Read
April 28, 2010This poetry collection is both funny and inventive. The poems vary from the 4-line "Mom" (an homage to a praying mantid) to the title work, contemplating the ways in which, just as people dislike different food, food could feel about different people. I can't wait to read selections to middle and junior high students.
July 24, 2012
Poems about things you may not usually think about in regards to food or eating.
I worried at first that reading these poems would make me hungry. But the opposite was true, there were many gross poems or ones with morbid humor. I personally didn't care for it, but am sure there is an unique audience out there that will love it.
I worried at first that reading these poems would make me hungry. But the opposite was true, there were many gross poems or ones with morbid humor. I personally didn't care for it, but am sure there is an unique audience out there that will love it.
January 30, 2013
I really liked the grab-me title, the book jacket and the illustrations. The content had so much promise! But, I only really liked one poem.
"Benjamin Benjamin Dietz"
Meet Benjamin Benjamin Dietz.
He repeats and repeats what he eats.
He eats sweet-flavored meats,
With his meat-flavored sweets,
And eats beets with his beets with his beets.
"Benjamin Benjamin Dietz"
Meet Benjamin Benjamin Dietz.
He repeats and repeats what he eats.
He eats sweet-flavored meats,
With his meat-flavored sweets,
And eats beets with his beets with his beets.
March 25, 2009
I didn't care for Weisntock's poetry at all, but the artwork is really great, and I found myself snickering at the little jokes he draws into the illustrations for his poems while groaning at the poetry itself. Um, not that I'm the target audience here or anything.
March 30, 2009
Funny poems about food. The title and cover are funny and cute, but the poems inside just weren't as clever as I expected them to be. It's a fine book for poetry fans, but I don't particularly care for poetry and this book wasn't strong enough to change my mind.
July 8, 2014
They're short and more appealing to younger kids, I think. Not for the kid who's loving Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich.
November 30, 2016
This book of poems is fun for students because its all about food, and maybe even foods they hate! Poetry is great for kids to read to one another and for teachers to read to the students. The kids could even write their own poem pretending to be a food!
April 3, 2009
Funny poetry about food. Funny recipies, gross food, and a poem about food hating people just like we hate some food. Some nice short ones and a few a little longer.
May 13, 2009
This is a nice funny book about food and would be a great read for classes doing a unit on food. Grades K+
Read
May 12, 2009Another humorous collection of poetry.
June 18, 2009
Uneven. The title poem was the worst of the lot. Some of the poems were quite entertaining and clever while others fell flat.
August 5, 2009
The title poem is pretty clever. "Mom" creeps me out, especially with the accompanying "good night moon" illustration.
December 6, 2011
I loved this book! When I saw the title, I knew I had to read it! The poems are very fun! And the illustrations are great too!
April 18, 2012
pictures are great; some concepts really fun; difficulty with rhythm in some of them; a bit complicated for younger, okay older kids. Decent springboard for food related poetry-writing.
April 19, 2012
Lots of points for the entertaining points of view- poems that give food the last word.
May 9, 2012
Really cute poems about food. Love the illustrations too!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews