The Beastly Feast

by Bruce Goldstone, Blair Lent (Illustrator)

The beasts are having a feast. Animals from everywhere are bringing their favorite foods to a picnic. Young readers will love identifying each creature and guessing what tasty treat they have to share. "Bears bring pears . . . parrots bring carrots . . ." What will the antelope bring?

Blair Lent, Caldecott Honor and Medal recipient, has created unique, texture-filled illustrations for this irresistible, rhyming poem. Mr. Lent's eye-catching art, combined with a story that is perfect for reading aloud, make The Beastly Feast an ideal and amusing introduction to animals and food.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Food, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 1998

About the author

Bruce Goldstone is the author of several books, including 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days, Great Estimations, Greater Estimations and The Beastly Feast. He has worked in educational publishing for nearly twenty years. Growing up in Ohio, Bruce fell in love with reading and the magic of words, and even back then he knew he wanted to be a writer. Books have always been an important part of his life, from buying used paperbacks to his first job, shelving books as a library page. He now lives in New York City with a plethora of pets including one dog, three parakeets, and an aquarium.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/bruceg...

Reviews

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book as part of a foodie list and so thought that naturally it would have some type of recipe or something food-base without just being a suggester of individual food types. Instead I found myself with a book geared towards really young readers who may enjoy the rhyming even if they have no idea what some of the food items are that may have been mentioned.

What really threw me off for the book was the combination of the rhyming and the illustrations. Although the subject matter is rather tame I don't like having two rather vibrant subjects to have to deal with. The rhyming was creative in tying an animal with a food that it rhymes but once all the animals got together it started throwing the rhymes around in other ways such as combing two separate non-rhyming words then doing a rhyming section and with the third line providing the reader with the rhyming words for the first line.

At the same time the reader had to deal with the vibrantly loud illustrations. And although I like the art form it just didn't work well for me with the already loud rhyming. It was too much conflict on the senses while the whole last sequence wasn't quite provided to the reader to know how the mess was made but instead shown then jumped to the end.

All in all this isn't a book recommendation that I would suggest....

[Ina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are detailed and vibrant, they almost jump off the page. The text is simple and the rhyming is wonderful. The beasts are having a feast and every animal is bringing something. Bears bring pears and parrots bring carrots....mice bring rice and mosquitos bring burritos. This book is a very engaging read aloud...kids loved the pictures and completing the rhymes (not always successfully) For instance when the feast is over everybody claps - the armadillos bring some pillows and then everybody...."Sleeps!" called out my young audience...naps. I'll keep working on rhyming...

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

All manner of animals bring something to feast on. The feast gets a bit out of hand and it seems a food fight begins. But then everyone has had enough and armadillos bring pillows so everyone can nap.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beastly Feast was a heaping helping of rhyme time fun. This playful animal tale will have anyone who reads it giggling, wiggling and searching for creative words. It's a keeper!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally had me at "antelope bring cantaloupe" and what the mosquitoes bring is perfect every time. The frenzy after the spot-on animals-bringing sequence somehow always goes on a touch too long every time I read this with kids. But every time we get to the armadillo we're back in.

I loved reading this and then asking, "Who do you want to come to your party? What would you like them to bring?" This book invites going wild (although my writers did not often take that up).

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every beast brings a rhyming food to the feast: flies bring pies, mosquitos bring burritos, antelope bring cantaloupe. A chaos of foods and animals! They all eat until full and take a nap on the pillows that the armadillos contribute.

The fresh and primitively styled illustrations are handmade cut paper decorated with linoleum-printed designs.

[April Thompson Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mosquitoes bring burritos

[Margaret Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old title, but great rhyming!

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightfully illustrated story will appeal to children aged two to five. The first time we read it together, my daughter and I giggled at the clever rhymes, frenzied pace, and sudden ending. The animals get together for a feast, and all the foods they bring are vegetarian. "Moose bring juice and mice bring rice. Fleas bring peas and flies bring pies." The story goes faster and faster, the rhyme almost becoming a tongue twister and the food flying around the table. Finally, at the end, the animals collapse into a pile to take a nap! This fun book requires at least two readings in a sitting. Enjoy!

[Laura]

This was enjoyable and I liked the pictures however I am not sure that the pictures serve the book well. They are so vibrant and complex and so a bit difficult to identify unless one is already familiar with the animals and foods involved in the story. Yet this is essentially an easy reader where the pictures are meant to give clues to what's written. As a read aloud it works well.

[Kara Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book expresses friendship and generosity. It shows a group of different kinds of "beasts" coming together and sharing a meal with each other. Personally, I think this would be a good book to read around Thanksgiving time. I chose this book because children could relate to different kinds of students getting together.

[Wendy Jones]

This is a great story to use with a lesson on rhyming. The animals are having a feast and all bringing some food. Each animal brings a food that rhymes with their name. It's cute and the students love guessing what the animals are bringing!

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the rhyming!

[Rose]

E Gol

[Tricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not often that i rate a book this low. I just didn't see the point. It was words, repeated. Illustrations weren't appealing. Reading this aloud was challenging.

[D'metria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for teaching rhyming words, digraphs, as well as vowel digraphs. This book is also good for teaching about different animals.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orange Pear Apple Bear for more advanced readers. Delicious rhyming word combinations featuring bears, pears, parrots, carrots, and more!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and rhyming

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the guests (animals) and the food they bring for the feast rhyme!

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the different beasts bring food to the feast.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each animal brings something that rhymes with their name to a feast. Cute and fast past. Interesting pictures. Toddler and up.

[Kye Jenkins]

This book has illustrations with bright colors and unorthodox patterns. This gives the story a silly and creative atmosphere