Review: The Search for Delicious - Natalie Babbitt

Synopsis: What is the definition of Delicious? The King's all for apples, the Queen favors Christmas pudding, and soon the entry in Prime Minister DeCree's dictionary is a bone of contention throughout the court. Alarmed, the King dispatches young Gaylen, DeCree's foster son and Special Assistant, to take a poll of the whole kingdom. In short order, the country is on the brink of civil war.

Review: The Search for Delicious seems a simple tale, and it is. But it is a simple tale which is really enjoyable and humorous. The very idea of a kingdom going to war with itself over the definition of a word brings to mind the war between the Lilliputians and Bigenders in Gulliver's Travels, who went to battle over which end to break one's egg. There is, however, an underlying message that humans just take. While this is certainly true about governments and people as a mass, it isn't of the individual, and the anti-person-message can, at times, grate on a Reader's nerves.

Setting that aside, however, this book is fun. Readers will appreciate Gaylen for a main character and laugh over his encounters with townsfolk and other such people. The Author masterfully weaves a more complicated plot into the other, making the story not just about finding the definition of a word, but something much more, for lack of a better word, epic. A swift read, The Search for Delicious was thoroughly enjoyable for an afternoon stroll.

Overall Rating: {{{{