Good Enough To Eat

by Brock Cole

Once there was a poor girl who had no mama and no papa and nothing at all, not even a name.
 
But then one day an Ogre comes knocking at the town’s gate, threatening to ravage the town unless the townspeople give him one of their fair maidens. Of course they pick this poor girl to be sacrificed. They dress her in a gown and a paper crown, put her in a sack, and leave her for the Ogre. But this brave and clever girl manages to outwit the Ogre and all the townspeople, too, earning a purse full of gold, a fine sharp sword, and most important, a fitting name for Good-Enough-to-Eat.
 
This satisfying story has the feel of a classic fairy tale, brought to life by Brock Cole’s expressive watercolors.  Good Enough To Eat is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2007

About the author

Brock Cole was born a year before the Second World War in a small town in Michigan. Because of his father's work, his family moved frequently, but he never regarded these relocations as a hardship.

"I thought of myself as something of an explorer, even though my explorations never took me very far. I had a deep and intimate acquaintance with woodlots, creeks, lakes, back streets, and alleys all over the Midwest."

He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children.

"I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw. I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children's books seemed a perfect fit."

His first book, The King at the Door, was published in 1979. Among his other picture books are The Winter Wren, The Giant's Toe, and Alpha and the Dirty Baby.

He now lives in Buffalo, New York, where his wife, Susan, teaches at the State University of New York. His sons both live in Athens, Georgia. Joshua teaches French history at the University of Georgia, and Tobiah is a painter and works as a waiter. Joshua is married to Kate Tremel, a potter and a teacher, and they have a little boy named Lucas.

Brock Cole's acclaimed first novel, The Goats, was published in 1987. It is set in the Michigan countryside of his childhood and captures the story of two loners' struggle for self-identity and inner strength after being made the targets of a cruel prank. In a Horn Book Magazine editorial, Anita Silvey wrote: "The Goats reaffirms my belief that children's literature is alive and thriving." Betsy Hearne, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, lauded The Goats as "one of the most important books of the decade."

In Brock Cole's second novel, Celine, sixteen-year-old Celine, a budding artist, is living with her young stepmother, only six years older than Celine herself, while her father is teaching in Europe. Celine dreams of escaping this situation, but she becomes involved with caring for Jake, her seven-year-old neighbor, who is going through his parents' divorce.

Since he began his writing career, Brock Cole and his wife have traveled a good deal, living for one year in Washington and another in Germany, as well as spending frequent summers in Greece and Turkey.

"To be honest, I simply tag along after Susan. It's her research which takes us all over the place. I enjoy it immensely, though. There's something about sitting down to work at a rickety table in a strange city that clears the head. It's the best thing for a writer, or for this one, anyway."

Reviews

[Esmoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A jaunty tale about empowerment and self-respect. In this story, a village outcast is elected to become the wife/dinner of a horrible ogre who has been harassing the town. The girl in question outwits everybody with a delicious irony, using the same insults the villagers leveled at her in order to make herself less appealing to the ogre, whom she then slays. The ungrateful villagers offer the girl a paltry reward, which she spurns before pocketing her own dowry for herself and riding off into the sunset (okay...there's not a literal sunset, but she leaves the village forever, eh?).

The story is a bit violent compared to the usual kid fare, as the ogre actually dies, but it is ultimately uplifting. My four year old son enjoyed it and so did I.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather dark children's story of an abused orphan girl who is sacrificed to a voracious ogre by her uncaring neighbors.

The man-eating ogre was less disturbing to me than the fact that the townsfolk were literally watching this poor girl starve to death, while mocking and tormenting her.

[Elizabeth Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall meaning of this story is a great one, but the suggested audience (ages 4-8) is too young, I believe. The story has a lot of text and that alone would be too boring for a child under age 6. I think this book should be read aloud to children from age 8 to 11 if you really want your students to understand what is going on. It is a great story on overcoming tough obstacles and not letting anyone bring you down, but the irony of the situations and what the main character does in each situation is beyond comprehension for a young child. She is a poor girl who is called three different names by the people in her village. For example, "Scraps-and-Smells," "Skin-and-Bones," and "Sweets-and-Treats." She uses these names to her advantage when she is chosen to be the wife of an ogre. When she tells him her name, he is confused and thinks she is talking about what is inside her bag so he does not want her. She continues to go back to the village people and ask for more things, but really those things are for her and not the ogre. She is tricking the village people into giving her things so that in the end she can leave the village and start a new life somewhere else. Young children would not be able to understand that that is what is happening. It is a great book to use in an upper elementary classroom to introduce a lesson on acceptance of everyone for who they are. The main girl in this book is treated like she is nothing because she is poor but turns out to be very smart and ends up killing the ogre. The village people cheer for her and like her now but she does not want to stay around the people who treated her so badly. This is the age when children start teasing and becoming mean to other children, so this is a great way to start a discussion on The Golden Rule: "treat everyone the way you want to be treated." However, there is a part in the story when the girl kills the ogre which would be inappropriate for younger children. The watercolor pictures are a bit boring, which is another reason that younger children may not enjoy this book. Older children would find the story itself to be entertaining enough.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library and don't want to return it til I get a copy for the house.

Summary: a young homeless woman is treated with patronizing disregard by her fellow late medieval townspeople, until they have an opportunity to make good use of her by marrying her off to a visiting ogre. Then she kicks everyone's ass.

The combination of story and picture have such a power to them I usually get teary-eyed as I finish. The watercolors are comfortably contemporary without being sloppy or too cliched and draw very nicely from Adrien van Ostade and Bruegel. Most importantly though, they convey the dawning cunning of the hero, creating the plausibilty and power of the ending.

Put it at the top of your list when gift hunting for nieces and nephews - or for books to have around when they come over. The prose holds through repeated readings.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very poor orphan girl is not treated with charity by the townspeople. One day a huge ogre came for a bride so they chose this girl to give to him. Clever story, clever girl as she sets out to outsmart everyone.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same old story about a poor girl who outwits both the townfolk and the ogre to whom she was sacrificed. I always wonder why her wits weren't enough before the events of the story. This one had truly selfish villagers and a truly gruesome ogre and a sufficiently complex plot sequence that I recommend it for slightly older children, probably not under age 7 or so.

[Ilana Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I shouldn't disagree with others' right to post their own reviews (and I'm not) but seriously--why are some of you giving this three stars? :-O Stunning illustrations, great message, and a protagonist who stands up for herself. Gobble this story up--it's good enough to eat! :-)

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding fairy tale with strong female MC. Hilarious antics and illustrations to match. Feels like a Hans Christian Anderson Story with its clever characters and foolish towns-folk. Timeless watercolor and pen and ink art.

[SARAH · Rating 3 out of 5]

an orphan, ignored and spurned by her fellow community, was given over to satiate the Ogre who comes calling for a wife. Luckily, she outwits them all by demanding a dowry and a sharp sword.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollicking tale in the style of traditional folk lore, although it is an original story. Wonderful, whimsical illustrations and a very clever heroine.

[Questingforaquest · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy Brock Cole's picturebooks. They do a good job of capturing the essence and tone of fairy tales, and I love looking for the little hidden details in his illustrations. This one is sort of a persecuted-outcast-saves-the-town story, but I thought the way karma plays out at the end was a more satisfying twist than the approach most children's books might have taken in having a merciful, saccharine twit of a protagonist who shows her kindness by giving her former tormentors another chance. Our heroine in this story even takes on an elderly woman, a near-victim of the troll, as her sidekick at the end, so the woman, who seems to have been likewise discarded by the town, gets to have adventures too! Far more satisfying, and I think it's an important lesson for little girls to learn: if people treat you unkindly or unfairly, there's no reason you have to owe them allegiance, kindness, another chance...or really anything! It's a message contrary to what we usually teach little girls, and sadly, it doesn't stop when they grow up into women who are still told to give others endless opportunities to change their behavior. I'm glad for this little book, and I'm thinking of getting my hands on some copies to give to friends who have little girls as gifts. Brock Cole never disappoints!

[Karli Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a really interesting approach in comparison to the classic fantasy stories. I liked the overall story line of the book and how the young girl outsmarts everyone in the end. It is slightly dark for a children’s book however since the girl is considered a sacrifice, and reminded me a lot of the Grimm’s Tales.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right from the start, my heart goes out to the heroine. Soon my eyes are feasting on the gorgeous illustrations, too. I think I'm going to like this picture book by Brock Cole.

Quick as a wink, then I discover that I'm immersed in a fairy tale, a highly original one.

And how I love the ending!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cruel behavior of the townspeople reminded me of Hans Christian Anderson's tale, "She Was Good for Nothing", only this time a clever homeless girl managed to outwit both the ogre AND the townspeople! Good for her!

[Jane McCarville · Rating 4 out of 5]

They dress her in a gown and a paper crown, put her in a sack, and leave her for the Ogre. But this brave and clever girl manages to outwit the Ogre and all the townspeople, too, earning a purse full of gold, a fine sharp sword, and most important, a fitting name for herself: Good-Enough-to-Eat.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was weird in a weird way, but girl power.

[Jessica Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The town discarded a poor girl and threw her to the town ogre to be eaten but she triumphed. The story had some twists and turns and was a bit dark at times but the ending was great.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old-fashioned fairy tale-style story. Fun to read.

[Swill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comedy, Orge, Love-story

[Kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever and fun.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+ illustrations. a bit too creepy for younger kids. good message.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to read to children. It talks about during the olden times how homeless people would ask for a penny and need help and then an ogre came to destory their village. The ogre keeps asking for better and better stuff and the girl ends up keeping it all. Even though we don't have ogre's now, we could relate to how when you visit downtown and see people who are homeless and how sometimes its not easy to give them money. You could ask them why do they think people don't give money to the homeless. Do they think it's because they are like the girl and ask for more and more stuff and they say what you give them is not good enough. Of course, you would have to know your children's background to see if any of them are homeless.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so unique, it is one of the first books where I have read that there is a heorine in it. The leader of the story is a woman and not only that but she is poor which I think is a very nice change. It shows how much inner strength women can have and how when you believe in yourself you can accomplish anything not matter what others may think about you. Children will be able to predict what might happen in the end and relate the story to themselves. It also has a good lesson learning aspect, just because others may be different than us that does not mean that we should treat them any differently. The story is long so you could make a good lesson out of it but is has a lot of good inquiring questions.

[Samantha Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scraps-and-smells seems to get the short end of the stick when the townspeople vote her to marry the Ogre that is threatening her town. What the townspeople don't know is that she is more clever than they could've ever imagined- even if she is poor. This book is wonderfully illustrated by Brock Cole. The storyline doesn't go the way you'd expect and can lead a younger audience guessing what might happen next. The book teaches a lesson about how you should think that you are good enough and not care what people think because more than likely those people won't change.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent story in the tradition of folktales, Cole's Good Enough to Eat introduces a new heroine alternatnely named Scraps-and-Smells, Skin-and-Bones or Sweets-and-Treats. When an ogre demands a bride from the town the orphaned and homeless heroine is easily selected as the bride-to-be, but our heroine has a few tricks up her sleeve. The songs interspersed are particularly fun, but the watercolor illustrations don't always march the tone of the story as well as they could.

[Brandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This imaginative fairy tale follows a poor, nameless girl in her quest to gain a name and get food to eat. This book would a good creative writing prompt for a fairy tale unit. The book also has an interesting moral. Students could have a discussion about the way the story's main character was treated. This story could also be used to talk about the importance of names. Students can use the name aspect of the book to come up with creative names for their own characters in their own stories.

[Laura Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

too funny! An outcast outwits an ogre and the whole village who sends her to him. I love picture books that include singing (like Abiyoyo, The Old Woman and Her Pig, etc). My only complaint is that I don't feel completely comfortable reading stories about eating people to children. Does anyone else have this problem? :)

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, Brock Cole is a wonderful and skilled storyteller. This one, however, lacks the kind of truly brilliant twists from some of his other titles. Very enjoyable and highly "share-able" nonetheless.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new fairy tale with a poor girl named Scraps and Smells, or Skin and Bones, or Sweets and Treats, depending on who you asked. But she outsmarts the town and the ogre, and becomes Good Enough to Eat.