Product Description

Picky Mrs. Pickle won't eat anything that isn't green or pickled. That is, until her stubborn niece, Sophie Claire, introduces Mrs. Pickle to a new, "non-pickle" ice cream flavor. Mrs. Pickle will never be the same again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2039695 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
Persnickety Mrs. Pickle is very particular about her tastes. "I like the things I like, I'm very sure of that. I needn't ever change because I'm happy where I'm at." And what is it Mrs. Pickle likes? Pickles, of course. Pickles, and pickle-pigmented things. From her emerald green eyelids to her grassy green shoes, this woman exudes pickle. But is her green conviction masking a deeper fear of trying new things? Her stubborn niece Sophie Claire thinks so, and proposes a challenge for her aunt: try a tiny bite of something new, and "I'll walk your dog for one whole year and polish all your shoes." How could Mrs. Pickle turn down an offer like that?

Anyone who is shy to try anything new can relate to Mrs. Pickle's pickle. Would that we all had a Sophie Claire in our lives, who brooks no nonsense, and lovingly escorts us out of our comfortable ruts. Christine Schneider's fabulously bright illustrations will perk up the most finicky consumer. Everyone will cheer as Mrs. Pickle opens her green-shadowed eyes (literally and figuratively--her eyes are snootily closed up until Sophie Claire's eye-opening proposition) to her niece's more adventuresome world of eggplant ripple ice cream and sky blue shoes. (Ages 3 to 10) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Anyone who has attempted to persuade someone stuck in their ways to try something new will find an ally in this tale of an eccentric who finally gives in. "I needn't ever change because I'm happy where I'm at," declares Mrs. Pickle, who wears nothing but green and eats nothing but pickles: pickle parfait ice cream, pickle bread, pickle pie. Her poodle and alter ego, Dill, sports a green sweater and eats pickles from a green dog dish. Schneider's (Jeremy's Muffler) art features wildly skewed perspectives, an impressive array of verdant, distorted shapes and loads of funny details: a warty atomizer of "eau de pickle no. 19"; a pickle-shaped dish on a similarly shaped coffee table; even the protagonist's figure resembles a giant, plump pickle. When her niece finally bribes and bullies Mrs. Pickle into sampling some eggplant ripple ice cream, the heroine realizes she has been missing out. The rhyming text is sometimes clever, sometimes flat, as in the lines "Little Sophie Claire,/ however, always/ speaks her mind./ She's Mrs. Pickle's/ youngest niece,/ and she's/ one of a kind." While readers may still shrink from sampling eggplant ripple or turnip treacle ice cream, the buoyant story of Mrs. Pickle's enlightenment is a reminder that they just won't know unless they try it. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2 A zany, upbeat rhyming tale that bounces right along. Ample, red-haired Mrs. Pickle always dresses in green, wears "eau de pickle" perfume, eats pickle pie, and even feeds her pup pickle poodle food. She sees no reason to change her lifestyle, exclaiming that, "I like the things I like" and "I'm very sure of that." However, her equally stubborn niece, Sophie Claire, refuses to give up on introducing her aunt to different things. Finally, they make a deal: the girl will walk her aunt's dog and polish all of her aunt's shoes for an entire year if Mrs. Pickle will try a new ice-cream flavor. Unable to resist this trade, the woman samples eggplant ice cream and to her delight and surprise loves it. With this simple act, Mrs. Pickle discovers how boring her routine has been and thinks of all of the possibilities life has to offer, from making new friends to learning to dance and speak French. The bright, lighthearted, stylized illustrations of pickle-shaped furniture and the green eye-shadowed Mrs. Pickle set a harmonious tone and the full-page and double-page spread illustrations give her life and charm. No matter how picky children are, they should be pleased as punch with Mrs. Pickle. Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.