Picturebook Review: Too Many Pears! by Jackie French

Too Many Pears! is a picture book written by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Pamela the cow likes pears. She likes pears a lot. In fact she likes them any way the come, and regardless of how she gets them. Pamela took pears from people, climbed a tree to eat them, and even burrowed under a fence to get to them. However, Amy has an idea. She sets up a pear feast for Pamela. Pears overflowed the table in ever imaginable combination. Pamela was thrilled and started eating. She ate, and ate, and ate. By the time she had eaten six hundred pears, Pamela was no longer happy. The next day Pamela ignored the invitation to eat pears, instead she looked for apples.

Too Many Pears! is a fun story, perfect for reading with any child obsessed with eating only one or two kinds of food. It also would be good for starting discussions on overindulging and moderation. The cow is friendly, but pear hungry, and I loved the motion in the illustrations as she steals pears from children. My daughter loved the cow, and the story. The illustrations are fun and expressive. I can still picture the look on Pamela's face after she has eaten her six hundred pears. Although I still wondered why there was a wombat on the farm, until I read that the author is Australian.