Simply Delicious!

by Margaret Mahy

Mr Minky is riding home on his faithful bicycle, when he stops to buy a double-dip-chocolate-chip-and-cherry ice cream with rainbow twinkles and chopped nut sprinkles for his little boy, Finnegan. But how is he going to get it home before it melts?

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Childrens, Food, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Margaret Mahy was a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.

Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance both received the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association. There have 100 children's books, 40 novels, and 20 collections of her stories published. Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaans. In addition, some stories have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Icelandic.

For her contributions to children's literature she was made a member of the Order of New Zealand. The Margaret Mahy Medal Award was established by the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation in 1991 to provide recognition of excellence in children's literature, publishing and literacy in New Zealand. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award (known as the Little Nobel Prize) in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Margaret Mahy died on 23 July 2012.

On 29 April 2013, New Zealand’s top honour for children’s books was renamed the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret...

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one for storytime today in honor of Ice Cream Month. It's a fun, but longer read than usual for this format.

[Storytime Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one, but - as other reviewers have pointed out - quite full of text. I had an older crowd for storytime so this went over better since they were able to hang on for a little bit longer. I was also very flexible with the actual text of the story - omitted some less important bits, condensed a little bit of the rest to keep the pace going - but kept the repetitive portions intact. Older kids really enjoyed the continued use of 'double dip chocolate chip and cherry ice cream with rainbow twinkles and chopped nut sprinkles!', done at a progressively faster pace with a little bit of stumbling. It also helped to have an 'ice cream cone' held high in the air, weaving and waving it around as I read.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! I was a little nervous about the story seeing the paragraphs per page, but they are repetitive, so the kids will know what is coming after a few pages. Plus, they will love the moves Mr. Minky makes to keep the ice cream safe. The ending was funny!

[Ashley Verity · Rating 5 out of 5]

My morning crowd and the afternoon kids thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Minky's adventure.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, but WAY too long for my kiddos. And I still have no idea how the ice cream wasn't a melted puddle by the time he got home...

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply ridiculous. But in a good way, like the masterful nonsense of Nash and Lear. Fun to read aloud a few times, but long enough that I would get bored if my boys asked for it more regularly.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A father buys an ice cream cone for his son and bikes through the jungle to bring it home to him. This book is cute, but text heavy. There is a lot of repetition: long description of the ice cream is said multiple times on each page, the way each animal spots the ice cream and follows along, and the way the father moves the cone around to avoid the animals. The ending is a little off, as the father hands the ice cream gives the ice cream to the son and all of the hungry animals eye each other for food. Also, the last scene is on the end papers, which is odd (maybe just my edition?).

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this numerous times to my kindergarten students over the years and it is always enjoyed. It's fun to do different voices for the animals, and there is lots of rhythm and repetition in the text. Of course, after reading this you're going to want your own "double-dip-chocolate-chip-and-cherry ice cream with rainbow twinkles and chopped-nut sprinkles". Simply delicious!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great one for K-5 Storytime. It builds as it goes along with repetive, catchy phrases that the children can repeat with you or enjoy the familiarness from it. Funny idea overall. And I love seeing Mr. Minky's balding head from a bird's-eye view--that's illustrator detail! :-)

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous, rollicking story about a man's journey to bring his boy a treat. Lots of repetition and alliteration make this a fun book to read aloud. And the colorful, cartoonish illustrations are very entertaining and complement the story nicely. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A man braves a short cut through the jungle to deliver an ice cream cone to his son. An assortment of animals tries to get the ice cream away from him. A bit repetitive.

Cute illustrations.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

animals - crocodile, tiger, spider monkey, toucan, butterflies, food, ice cream, jungle, bike ride

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit long for story times but a fun trip through the jungle with ice cream nonetheless!

[Conquering · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to read to kids. Introduces the idea of food chains in a completely fun way. Would be great with a science unit.

[Rida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Funny! =D

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness this book gave me some serious belly giggles! Done in a fun repetitive format this quirkily illustrated read chronicles one man’s crazy journey to deliver a frozen treat to his son.