Author & Illustrator: Dorothy Kunhardt
Publisher: New York Review Children’s Collection
Genre: Children
ISBN: 978-1-59017-628-3
Pages: 72
Price: $16.95
Junket is a milk-based dessert, made with sweetened milk and rennet, the digestive enzyme which curdles milk. It might best be described as a custard or a very soft, sweetened cheese. And in Junket is Nice, an old man with a red beard and red slippers is eating it from a very large, red bowl.
When all the people of the world assemble around him, he asks them to tell him what he’s thinking. The first one to guess correctly will get something nice. But first he tells them three things he’s not thinking of. As they all make their guesses, a young boy on a tricycle watches and thinks.
Junket is Nice is pure absurdity and nonsense in a whimsical package. It’s filled with repetition, silly pictures and concepts, and too much food at one time. Originally published in 1933, this classic has been out of print and only recently reintroduced by the New York Review. If this was one of the best-loved books on your childhood bookcase, it’s time to share it with your own kids.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
Bergers Book Reviews 