Kitchen Table Reveiws: The Marshmallow Incident
Mir and the kids determine why marshmallows are the necessary ingredient to this silly story.
The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett
The Town of Left and the Town of Right are wholly separate, divided by a dotted yellow line and patrolled by the Order of Ambidextrous Knights. The right-handed and the left-handed live on opposite sides of the line, but they may as well live on opposite sides of the universe.
All of that changes, one day, when someone stumbles over the line and the Knights launch an attack with the only ammunition they have handy—marshmallows. And yes, it gets sillier from there.
Me: What did you think?
Son: I think I’m hungry. I want to go camping again and make s’mores!
Daughter: This was a fun book.
Me: What was your favorite part?
Daughter: I don’t know… maybe when they were all debating about whether or not it made sense to get rid of the line separating the towns.
Son: My favorite part was when there were so many marshmallows all over, it looked like snow. That was awesome.
Me: So do you think it would’ve been as good if it was something other than marshmallows?
Son: Like what?
Me: Well, like, you just said you liked that it looked like snow. So what if they used something else that was white. Like… socks! Would that have worked?
Daughter: Ewwww. You can’t eat socks!
Son: How about cauliflower? That’s white!
Me: The Cauliflower Incident? And at the end they all roast some cauliflower together?
Daughter: Gross!! It had to be marshmallows!
Me: But why?
Daughter: Because that’s what this author does. You know… there was Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and then Pickles to Pittsburgh. She’s all about funny food.
Me: Oh.
Son: I have a question, though. What if you lived in the Town of Right and you had a kid who was left-handed?
Daughter: You’d have to throw your baby over the line!
Son: Really??
Me: Well, it’s just a made-up story, but that’s part of the problem with determining your town based on handedness, huh? I guess it’s a good thing they figured out how to all live together no matter what.
Daughter: I wonder how long it took them to eat all of those marshmallows.
Son: That had to go way past the 5-second rule with them gathering up and eating all of those later on, you know.
Me: Um, ewww. I hadn’t thought of that.
Daughter: It’s okay, Mom. They roasted them! I’m sure that took care of the germs.
Son: Cauliflower would’ve been more nutritious.
Daughter: But less gooey, and therefore less funny.
Me: Ooooookay. I think we’re done.
Pros: Marshmallows are inherently funny. It’s a silly story told with great seriousness, which makes it even funnier. Little details from the illustrations really enhance the experience.
Cons: Trying to figure out the ramifications of handedness in a segregated land. The possibility of s’mores made with cauliflower. Violation of the 5-second rule.
The Marshmallow Incident gets three thumbs up from our kitchen table, where I find myself with a sudden, insatiable craving for Mallowmars.
