Hot Food: Nice!

To transform his viral poem “Hot Food” into a picture book, Rosen (Oh Dear, Look What I Got!) tacks on a prelude: the narrator announces that as a boy, “I thought my dad knew everything.” But that belief’s end is clearly nigh when, at dinner, three of the pale-skinned family members (narrator, brother, and mum) approach their piping-hot mashed potatoes the same sensible way: “put a little/ bit on my fork and I/ blow—whooph whooph—// until it’s cool,/ just cool,/ then into the mouth:/ nice!” But Dad plops a bite straight into his maw and immediately realizes the mistake: “His eyes pop out.// he flaps/ his hands// ...he spits bits of potato/ all over his plate.” Then, seeing his stunned family, he dispenses a nugget of sage advice, urging others to “Watch out... // the potato’s very hot.” The verse loses some of its oomph without Rosen’s lively performance, but pencil and digital media illustrations from Layton (Danny McGee Drinks the Sea) go big and broad, capturing one of those moments of small-potatoes domestic slapstick that immediately becomes treasured family lore. Ages 3–7. (Jan.)