Burger Boy

When we checked this book out from the library here in New York, my three-year-old made me read it at least once a day for three weeks. I finally bought it for her...BE AWARE, this is the "international" version of the book, which is markedly different than the American version. For starters, it is now a rhyming book. This was a nice change, and much appreciated. There are numerous changes to content to accommodate the rhyming, and Benny now says "Let me be!" instead of "Leave me alone!"Not appreciated was a very important change when the white van picks Benny up.In the American version, the man driving the van was the owner of "Bigger Burgers" ("Bigga Burgers" in the American version). He brought Benny back to his restaurant, put him on display, and charged a dollar per view to see the talking burger. Benny sat on top of a cutting board, tears pouring down his face.In the international version, the man driving the van is not identified, but he carries Benny into Bigger Burgers and "with a voice as cold as ice" says that people can have a slice of the burger boy for a pound a slice! The picture has been changed to include a knife about to slice into Benny as he sits on the cutting board!So, it didn't occur to me that there would be so many changes between the two versions. If I could have a do-over, I would purchase the American version, because it's what I got used to and it was a bit more lighthearted. While the gist of the two versions is the same, at the point when you have to start changing the pictures to match the new content, it's not the same book. I felt it should have been more clear how different this version was from the American library version.

My Head Start class agreed for a healthy body, Bennie needed to eat more veggies, more fruit, less burgers (bread & meat) and drink milk! I included this book in our study of "Healthy Eating." There was an extended discussion on the amount of lettuce on the hamburger and if it was enough to make a salad. The decision was it was only one veggie and salads contain more than one veggie. One student said, "Bennie should listen to his Mama!"We cut food from the grocery sale paper and pasted the items on a plate. We made burgers from construction paper - toppings and all and glued the burger to the plate to show Bennie how other foods from the food pyramid would look with the burger. They also dictated a few comments for Bennie. This sort of evolved and was fun to see how the story connected with each child. I recommend this book! IVR

My son loves this book but we both hate the Kindle version. He likes to touch the pictures in order to count the dogs etc and he can't do this because the screen changes. Because the text comes out so small, it is repeated in a larger font, which means that the text doesn't always match the picture on the screen, the words are repeated twice or even three times, making it so that you have to read ahead to figure out where you left off, and it's just plain hard to follow the story. An exercise in frustration; I'll be buying him a hard copy.Oh, and I disagree with a previous reviewer who said this was a vegan propaganda book. The real message behind the book is that eating only veggies is just as bad as eating only burgers, or any other food. At the very end of the story, the protagonist turns into a carrot, and is chased by a mean, hungry pink bunny :-)

We first obtained this as a library book. I purchased it to give to my 5 year old daughter as a surprise gift in the future. It is silly, but very appealing to the pre-school set.

An Excellent Product

I am a K-2 Reading Specialist and Mom of 2. Kids just love this book! I think everyone can relate. I took little candy hamburgers to class when reading this book. It was fun to try them if you dare.....

All my kids absolute favorite book

So fun!

my grandson was looking forward to this book but was disappointed at the end. it just wasn't how he expected it to finish

My son lives this book!! Aged 6 Great and funny story....

Good read for the grandchildren

This is a fantastic story & my children love it. However,there is a part in the story where the illustrations show the burger boy crying as a large kitchen knife looms above his head,this led my 3 year old to having nightmares about being chopped up. Perhaps its not such a good idea for more sensitive children.

A really cute story and one I don't mind repeating through our many bedtime story times! Showing the danger of eating too much, a funny story with lovely illustrations. My son still eats a lot of chocolate though!