OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Blueberry Lu Learns to Cook" by Lisa Goff.]

Blueberry Lu Learns to cook is a sweet story about a girl named Lucy and her friend, Sue. Lucy, or Lu for short, is allergic to dairy and wants to bake a cake. She knows that with Sue’s help, she can overcome the dairy issue and create a culinary masterpiece. However, she has a vice in the form of blueberries which threatens to turn her and Sue’s baking adventure into a baking disaster!

This story by Lisa Goff has some really great elements in it. Lu is a child constricted to a wheelchair, but there is no explanation as to why. I love that. It shows, very subtly, that there is nothing different about her, and that she is a normal, excitable child that can also get into trouble. I think, if parents are reading this to their children, it opens an excellent channel for discussion about how to address and treat people that are differently abled.

The other thing that I loved is the recipe included in the back of the book for the blueberry cake and shake that were created in the story. This also allows for creativity after reading and involvement for the children who want to know how Lu and Sue’s cake turned out.

This is a simple rhyming book and, unfortunately, the rhymes were a little forced. There were places that the sentences didn’t even rhyme at all. An example would be the sentences ending in ‘behind her’ and ‘batter’. Because of this, a lot of the story wasn’t explained very well, and I found myself a little confused in parts. In the beginning, Lu wants to combat her blueberry craziness, and so she takes off her shoes. I’m not really sure why. Small explanations for things like this would go a long way, and even though the rhyming verse is catchy, I would consider another course.

Because I was puzzled in places, and because of the sometimes-poorly-executed rhymes, I can only give Blueberry Lu Learns to Cook 3 out of 4 stars. It has some great lessons in it, and I would recommend it to parents for their children to read, or for them to read with their children. Also, this would be a great book to have in a classroom for teachers to open some interesting topics of discussion with their classes.

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Blueberry Lu Learns to Cook
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The concept of this story sounds lit. I also agree with you that not trying to give a background on why Lu is in a wheelchair and just letting her be a child is pretty dope. I am also into baking and I have a friend Sue so that just makes it even better for me.
Thanks for sharing this insightful review.

Jaime Lync wrote: ↑23 Dec 2019, 18:52 The concept of this story sounds lit. I also agree with you that not trying to give a background on why Lu is in a wheelchair and just letting her be a child is pretty dope. I am also into baking and I have a friend Sue so that just makes it even better for me.
Thanks for sharing this insightful review.

I think you and your friend Sue should get on this one... nothing nicer than cakes and shakes!
Thanks for the great comment!

The theme of this book is absolutely fine. Especially, children having some sort of disability would find it interesting ad encouraging to learn new tasks and skills. It's bad the book is poorly rhymed. Thanks for this succinct review!

I like the concept of this book. My daughter has food allergies, so I think she would like to hear about someone like her. I also agree with you about the fact Lu is in a wheelchair, no explanation necessary. Kids need exposure to these types of things so they can realize that all types of people make up our world. I hope the author spends a bit more time working on the execution of the book so that it can live up to the concept. Great review!

This sounds like a really cute book, and it's great that they have the main character in the wheelchair without explaining why she's in one. I think this would be a great book for my niece and nephew, and they would love being able to bake the cake. From your description, it seems like the rhyming should be done away with completely. Thanks for the great, thorough review!

Sarah Tariq wrote: ↑25 Dec 2019, 02:39 The theme of this book is absolutely fine. Especially, children having some sort of disability would find it interesting ad encouraging to learn new tasks and skills. It's bad the book is poorly rhymed. Thanks for this succinct review!

Thanks, Sarah, for popping by

unamilagra wrote: ↑26 Dec 2019, 00:00 I like the concept of this book. My daughter has food allergies, so I think she would like to hear about someone like her. I also agree with you about the fact Lu is in a wheelchair, no explanation necessary. Kids need exposure to these types of things so they can realize that all types of people make up our world. I hope the author spends a bit more time working on the execution of the book so that it can live up to the concept. Great review!

You understand more than most that allergies can be such a huge problem - and this book handles it so well. Your daughter would probably love it too

Mbrooks2518 wrote: ↑29 Dec 2019, 02:20 This sounds like a really cute book, and it's great that they have the main character in the wheelchair without explaining why she's in one. I think this would be a great book for my niece and nephew, and they would love being able to bake the cake. From your description, it seems like the rhyming should be done away with completely. Thanks for the great, thorough review!

Thank you so much! I appreciate your stopping by

The rhymes aren't really an issue for me, mostly because they're eclipsed by how cute this sounds. Kids can learn a lot from this about how to work around disabilities and problem solve while enjoying a lovely story about baking. Nice.

Nisha Ward wrote: ↑27 Jan 2020, 13:07 The rhymes aren't really an issue for me, mostly because they're eclipsed by how cute this sounds. Kids can learn a lot from this about how to work around disabilities and problem solve while enjoying a lovely story about baking. Nice.

Absolutely!
I love the baking angle, too. Really fun
Thanks for commenting!

Blueberry cake and shake sounds delicious. I love books that involve the reader in the story too.