A Moose Boosh: A Few Choice Words About Food
A Moose Boosh: A Few Choice Words About Food
Written and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin
Age Range: 10+
Paperback: $18.95, ISBN 978-0983661559, eISBN 978-0998047751
Publication Date: October 2014
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Where there is food, there will be laughter (and crumbs).
In more than 40 exuberant poems and “vandalized” photographs, you’ll meet a city kid who fantasizes about farming on a stoop, a girl with crumpets and crêpes in her head, and a boy with a pet cabbage. “Doctor Food” prescribes good food as medicine and “Dancing Kitchen” will have you shimmying with your skillet. From the amuse-bouche to the very last pea on the plate, A Moose Boosh celebrates food—growing it, making it, slurping it and especially sharing it with loved ones at the dinner table. Bon appétit!
Poetry is food for the soul, food is poetry for the tongue.
Reviews
* 2015 Notable Children’s Book, American Library Association
"Very funny book."
— Micheal Pollan, author, Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Food Rules
"Readers and eaters are taken on a comical romp through the world of food using poetry and a visual feast of photographs enhanced with playful doodles."
— 2015 American Library Association Notable Children's Book
"Varied in style and tone — much like food itself — the witty, quirky poems take on many different topics . . . This is a charming and original book that should start some quality conversation about food."
—School Library Journal
"In 40-plus energetic poems, Larkin celebrates the good and decries the bad in the food world. Though individual poems might seem like amuse-bouches by themselves, they add up to a full meal, and the volume as a whole serves up a lively conversation about food... [T]he overall effect of the poetry and the mixed-media, graffiti-style art (inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat) is exuberant: "Where there is food, there will be laughter (and crumbs)." A kid-friendly companion to Michael Pollan's Food Rules."
— Kirkus Reviews
“Larkin assembles more than 40 food-themed poems that range from the political to the personal, pairing them with photographs that have digital doodles superimposed on them. Several poems take aim at urban food deserts, fast food, or modified food… But Larkin doesn’t ignore the sillier or joyful side of food…and his sometimes whimsical, sometimes provocative artwork gives the poems added dimension and depth."
—Publishers Weekly
Excerpt from the book
"What to talk about at the dinner table? Why how to eat Slippery Noodles, of course!
Twirl them, whirl them, slop them, slip them,
twist them, curl them, whip them, flip them,
sip them, slurp them, chew them, beat them.
But you must use your fork, when you eat them."
— from the book
Video
Meet the real Chaz and the $100 Apple. Maybe A Desk is Not a Table. Find the Runaway Beans
About the Author-Illustrator
Eric-Shabazz Larkin always knew he was an artist. He didn’t discover there was a graffiti artist inside of him until he drew the Norfolk (VA) city skyline on the wall of his childhood home, forcing his mother to forbid the use of permanent markers in her house ever again. His need to draw on things did not lay dormant for very long as he started to vandalize his own books and photos, which is what led him to the illustration style of this book.
Eric-Shabazz is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and poet. The first children’s book he illustrated, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book and received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist. A Moose Boosh marks his debut as author and illustrator. He lives in Long Island City, New York. Learn more about him at creativeschoolofthought.com.