Yummy, Yummy Goes My Tummy Reading Quiz

Answer: Mexicali Soup

"Mexicali Soup" is a novel about a mother of many children who is going to make soup for dinner. Each of the children secretly request that she leave some ingredient out of her usual recipe. By the time the soup is finished, and everyone's request is complied with, there is nothing in the soup; it is plain hot water.

The moral, of course, is that all kinds of ingredients are needed to make things good in soup, as well as in life.

Answer: Blueberries

In "Blueberries for Sal", the children follow the wrong mothers. It is only found out when the mother bear hears the sound of berries hitting the bottom of Sal's pail, and when Sal's mother notices the baby bear putting his paw in her pail. All's well that ends well, though, and they amicably get straightened out.

Answer: Frances

In "Bread and Jam for Frances", picky-eater Frances refuses all other foods. She will only eat bread and jam. Her mother agrees and only feeds her bread and jam. In the end you read of Frances singing to herself, "What I am, is sick of jam". She has learned that variety is really the spice of meal times, as well as of life.

Answer: zero

This is an adorable wordless picture book telling the story of a little old lady's trials while trying to make a stack of pancakes for breakfast. Between her pets and the lack of necessary ingredients, she teaches determination, with a smile.

Answer: Maurice Sendak

This is a book to help children learn the months of the year. We go through the year with a boy and poetry about chicken soup in each month. A clever, lovable, book, as are all of Sendak's.

Answer: Sam's Sandwich

The book is cleverly bound in hard brown material in the shape of a sandwich, with the spine showing the various usual layers of food that are on the sandwich. It all sounds yummy until you start to turn the pages and see what, on the fold-outs, other things Sam has put on the sandwich. Just like an older brother! This is all accompanied by poesy. I wonder if Mr. Pelham had a younger sister to whom he did something similar?

Answer: Mexico

This book illustrates and describes, in rhythmic verse and prose, Mexican food such as tortillas and guacamole. There is even a glossary with a guide to the proper pronunciation of the Mexican words so the child can learn at least a few of the "menu Spanish" words.

Answer: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

In Chewandswallow the weather is always food or drink, e.g., the snow is ice cream. One day the big food comes through and the people have to flee, on bread boats, to an area where the weather doesn't come in the form of food. It has to be a big change for them because Chewandswallow didn't even need a grocery store!

Answer: Chickenfeet

This book, about a young boy who is embarrassed to bring his friend to meet his old-fashioned Italian grandmother, and who is taught a lesson, will also teach the readers the same lesson. It develops that the friend loves the grandmother and when hearing that the boy is able to look at his wonderful grandmother with new eyes and realize how lucky he is and how much he loves her.

Answer: Diamond ring

When her mother takes off her ring so it doesn't get filled with the masa dough as she and Maria make the tamales, Maria, feeling like a big girl, sneaks it on to her thumb and continues helping her mother. It isn't until later that she remembers the ring and, of course, it's not on her thumb.

She assumes it is in one of the many tamales that were made so she talks her cousins into helping her eat all the tamales so they can find the ring. All the while, naturally, the ring is again on her mother's hand.

The story teaches forgiveness, togetherness with the family, and not to "borrow" things one shouldn't.