I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio and Dorothee de Monfreid

I'd Really Like to Eat a Child is a hilarious children's picture book about a finicky eater. Achilles, a young crocodile, refuses to eat his usual breakfast banana, announcing that he'd rather eat a child instead. French author Sylviane Donnio uses repetition (on the part of Achilles) and histrionics (on the part of his parents) to build humour. Cartoon illustrations by Dorothee de Monfreid quickly develop the characters through body language and facial expressions. There's a wonderful sight gag when we see how very tiny Achilles is in relation to a child that he encounters. Achilles' plans to eat a child are foiled... for the time being.

Some adults have told me they find this immodest proposal content disturbing, but kids love it. A colleague and I are going to perform I'd Really Like to Eat a Child as a puppet show at 3 PM today at EPL Squared. Come down to Churchill Square in Edmonton for a giant book sale, live music, and family activities of all kinds between 10 AM and 5 PM today.

Readalikes: books for a storytime theme "Children Are Delicious" -- Boy Soup (Loris Lesynski); Monsters Eat Whiny Children (Bruce Eric Kaplan); The Qalupalik (Elisha Kilabuk); as well as traditional folktales like Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Ridinghood.