Supermarket (Super Sturdy Picture Book Series)

Publishers Weekly

Sturdy Studies Candlewick launches a new line of Super Sturdy Picture Books, just right for beginning readers, with a trio of titles boasting strong cardstock pages. A toddler cuts a swathe of destruction in the Supermarket! by Charlotte Doyle, illus. by Nadine Bernard Westcott. The artist's trademark fine line and watercolor wash illustrations show an oblivious tyke lobbing beets and causing an avalanche of canned peas, as the staccato text lists each item: "Green Beans./ Ice cream./ Get in line./ Checkout time." (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

This is the story of every toddler's dream, and every mother's nightmare—a supermarket blitzkrieg! The book starts calmly enough, with everybody smiling. But as the shopping trip progresses, so does the chaos. Mom picks out a tomato, Baby squelches strawberries. Mom grabs a broom, Baby spills juice all over the floor. As this marauding toddler leaves behind a trail of destruction, stock clerks, cashiers, other shoppers, and especially Mom, become more and more harried. Finally Mom makes it out of the supermarket, and the child falls blissfully asleep. Supermarket! is part of Candlewick Press's new series of "Super Sturdy Picture Books." Not quite a board book, it does sport heavier than usual paper and rounded corners—"sturdy enough for toddlers but with a grown-up feel." Although the book is aimed at toddlers, some toddlers' mothers may not want this book in their house, lest it give their child fresh ideas for supermarket shenanigans! Beginning readers, however, might really enjoy it. The pictures are cute and full of energy, and the vocabulary simple—there are only 46 words in all. Young readers are less likely than toddlers to simply imitate the wild child in the book, but are sure to enjoy the theme of a child flummoxing multiple adults. 2004, Candlewick Press, Ages 1 to 3.
—Dawn Elizabeth Hunt