A little girl is presented with a different sort of a meal when her mom serves her green gooey goop. Interesting and icky ingredients appear one by one as the little girl decides what's in this noxious-smelling concoction. The little girl creates a flood, and her dog's fur turns green. Suggested age range for readers: 0-8
A little girl is presented with a different sort of a meal when her mom serves her green gooey goop. Interesting and icky ingredients appear one by one as the little girl decides what's in this noxious-smelling concoction. The little girl creates a flood, and her dog's fur turns green. Suggested age range for readers: 0-8
Professional Reviews
Readers' Favorite
Reviewed by Robert Ahanes for Readers' Favorite
Green Gooey Goop, a children's book by Anna C. Morrison, narrates the story of a mom who tries to add more green to her child's meal. She prepares a smoothie-like food with diverse green ingredients inside for her little girl who imagines the green smoothie as a mixture of disgusting and awful things such as sweaty socks and monkey. The little girl needs to eat the smelly green sandwich. She drops it and her dog licks the green stuff spilled on him. What happens to the poor dog is a mystery.
Readers, kids or adults, will enjoy the descriptive and rhyming story of a little girl who hates green stuff in her food. Everyone will enjoy reading this book since it's a common story among kids who prefer more sweets and chocolates rather than green nutritious vegetables. We may have had the same experience when we were children. Morrison just reminds us of the healthiness of green foods. Green Gooey Goop is a fun and insightful book for its readers.
The intuitive and adorable illustrations by Alexander Morris help kids be part of the story, by letting them see horrible things brewing up from the pot mom gave to the little girl. The colors are vivid and attract readers, inviting them to enjoy it to the last moment. This book is a reminder to its readers to live healthily and stop making excuses since vegetables are good for everyone. We must change our eating habits and nutrition to live better and healthier lives.
Penelope Anne Cole
Anna C. Morrison's "Green Gooey Goop" is a rhyming story about a mom trying to get more “green” into her child’s foods. Mom prepares some green stuff in a cup—maybe a green smoothie? The girl over-reacts and imagines lots of yucky smelly green stuff. In one scene she wears a gas mask. Many wholesome green foods are discussed: avocadoes, asparagus, broccoli, green apples, kiwis, pistachio nuts, and peas. Later other not so appealing things are added: pickles, cilantro, spirolina, even frog toes! So, if all of it is blended into the same cup, maybe it really is green gooey goop.
As a mother and teacher, I cheer all efforts to get more fruits and vegetables into children. I know one mother who snuck broccoli into her kids’ smoothies. I've not tried that, but I have made celery and apple slices with peanut butter, plus baby carrots as snack foods. Another friend serves a veggie tray with Ranch dressing. We mothers do this in the name of improving our children’s nutrition and health.
The artwork by Alexander Morris is very descriptive. He makes it look more like a mad science experiment gone wrong than a dietary innovation. The first plate of food looks quite normal with melon and asparagus. Then later, our main character is stirring up something with noxious fumes and the rhymes describe all sorts of horrible things brewing up in the pot.
The girl’s poor dog gets some green goop spilled on him, and he turns green. Perhaps it isn’t food after all. Still, we all need to eat more green foods, more colorful fruits and vegetables to improve our health. Poking fun at what we eat, how it’s fixed or smells can at least starts a conversation about healthy food. That is moving in the right direction.
