Product Description

Charlie's little sister Lola doies not eat a lot of things - and she absolutely will not never ever eat a tomato - until one day Charlie plays a good trick on her.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79967 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lola will not eat peas. In fact, she won't eat carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, eggs, sausages, cauliflower, cabbage or baked beans. And she will absolutely not eat a tomato.

When Charlie discovers that if peas are green drops from Greenland, and that carrots are orange twigets from Jupiter, even Lola is tempted to clear her plate.

I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato is an hilarious book that picks up a familiar childhood theme and takes it to the extreme. The imaginative presentation of the text, combined with the mish-mash collage of Lauren Child's illustrations brings an everyday dilemma to rip-roaring life and offers an ingenious solution to a problem that can turn into a daily battle between parent and child.

I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato is the best fun a child will ever have at supper time. Age range: 3 to 5--Susan Harrison

Review
"The book uses a mix of quirky illustrations and photography, and a truly imaginative storyline." Junior Book of the Month; "This book lifts Lauren Child's reputation as a fresh talent ever higher. She's so good, it's exhilarting." The Independent; "Innovative illustrations and text." - The Bookseller"

About the Author
Lauren Child admits that she did not learn much at art school and it was only when she created Clarice Bean that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Clarice Bean, That's Me has received much critical acclaim and won the Bronze Medal in the Smarties Book Prize and was Highly Commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Customer Reviews

I will not ever never eat a tomato
Charlie has a little sister called Lola and, like many small children, Lola has a long list of foods that she doesn't like. So, when Charlie has to feed her dinner, he resorts to tricking her into eating things that she will not eat - ever! Great illustrations, fantastic characters and a situation that all parents (and children) can identify with. My four year old son absolutely adores the story and is now more willing to try food that he would never touch before - it was worth buying the book just for that! I really like Lauren Child's characters - not too cute, vibrant and enthusiastic. My son requests this story more than any other and really loves the author's other books too - thank you for something different!

Captured my nephews imagination from the first page!
As I was babysitting my 4 year old nephew at Christmas, and he is a fussy eater, I thought this would be a good 'story for bedtime'. I must admit when I previewed it before his visit I thought some of the illustrations were a little odd, but these 'oddities' were the parts that drew his attention the most. The author obviously knows what's going on in a childs mind. It made my babysitting an extremely enjoyable experience, so much so that I'm doing it again very soon, with the help of the next book entitled 'I am not sleepy and I will not go to bed'. Keep them coming please Lauren!

The original - and best!
As the (now BBC-powered) Charlie and Lola juggenaut rolls on it is worth remembering that this is where it all started.

A deserving winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal for 'distinguished illustration in a book for children' this book would nevertheless not work nearly as well without the author's uncanny ability to get inside a child's mind and wrap the result in such disarmingly charming prose.

The story is narrated in the first person by Charlie establishing a very firm child's perspective from the outset. Additionally the absence of adults from the storyline other than by reference (a la the famous 'Peanuts' strips by Charles Schultz) serves to seal the story almost hermetically into a children's world allowing them to explore, seemingly without inhibition, this often angst-ridden theme.

I must have read this story to Alice (now 3 1/2) over a hundred times over the last three years, and despite her having watched it countless times on DVD as well there seems to be no end in sight for its run of popularity.

If you want Charlie and Lola in book form this is absolutely the place to start. If you like this I would also recommend "I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go To Bed" and "I Am Too Absolutely Small For School". The books that follow are reverse-engineered from the scripts of the TV episodes (and not even written by Lauren Child!) and in my opinion do not work well in book form, becoming tediously repetitive "Lola says ... so I say ..., so Lola says ..." etc. ad nauseam.