Review
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Title: The Boy Who Ate America
Author: Nathan Smith Jones
Publisher: Shadow Mountain (Deseret Book)
Genre: Children’s fiction
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 31
Binding: Large hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-59038-814-3
Price: $16.95
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle
As an aging hippie, quickly approaching my 60th year, I’m less and less able to understand children’s literature. I guess I’m sufficiently distant from early education to really “get” what it’s all about. And I really don’t understand why certain titles, and themes, actually work for kids, but they do.
The Harry Potter phenomenon, Barney, even old Mister Rogers (however he spelled his name), are evidence that kids can latch onto ideas and hold on for a long time. There is an ingenuity that escapes me, but I’m glad others do get it, and use their talents to educate and inspire the very young.
When this title arrived, I must admit I missed the whole point. I said to myself, “Now what kind of kid would believe that some child could eat the whole country? This is just so over the top.” Of course, I’m an idiot. I don’t remember that children are fascinated with the over the top. They fantasize, they imagine, they become creators of their own little worlds. And in these worlds, anything is possible.
In “The Boy Who Ate America,” we meet a young man plagued by an insatiable appetite. He begins eating everything in sight, and finally devours the whole country! State by state, monument by monument, everything ends up in his belly. What he doesn’t understand is that, although he thinks his hunger can be satisfied by eating everything he can grab, there is an appetite that can only be satisfied by “eating” the Word of God. When this realization hits, the boy expels the entire nation, resulting in a bit of confusion as to where things belong. But it all ends well, and we have the young boy reading the Holy Bible, finding satisfaction in the message of salvation.
The illustrations by Casey Nelson are clever and eye-catching. Children will love them. And they’ll love the story. Lots of giggles for the youngsters, and lots of opportunities for parents to discuss cities, states and landmarks with their kids. And given the total lack of Mormon-specific content, it’s a book that can be shared with non-Mormon friends.
Maybe one day I’ll finally get it. Maybe one day I’ll open a package and say, “Hey, I understand that title!” Until then, I guess I’ll have to continue trying to read as a child would read, and maybe even open myself to the kind of reality-building that children enjoy so much.
Jeff Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.comwww.aml-online.orgwww.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html
