SuitabookNora: the Girl Who Ate and Ate and Ate
Andrew Weale
- Reading
- Read it aloud and pause before each page turn so listeners can predict the rhyme or guess what Nora might eat next. Afterwards, talk about where realistic appetite ends and fantasy begins.
- Themes
- Appetite and excess: The book addresses appetite and excess; the detail of how it is developed remains unclear. The excessive appetite is treated as comic and exaggerated, while the stated cautionary framing invites attention to consequences. The later happy outcome complicates a simple warning.
- Imagination and transformation: After Nora eats her clothes and burps, she travels into space like a balloon and reaches the moon. The impossible transformation is presented as a humorous adventure with a surprising, happy consequence, supported by rhyme and colourful illustrations.
- Shared reading and participation: The rhyming lines invite children to anticipate missing words, especially before the dramatic final word of a line. The book actively supports playful participation: listeners can predict rhymes, turn pages for punchlines and respond to visual jokes.
- Worth knowing
- Nora’s appetite is presented as excessive and the story is called cautionary, but the comic fantasy also rewards her with a happy outcome. Families may wish to distinguish playful exaggeration from ordinary eating.