Banana

Product Information

The Premonition taps into anxiety about memory, childhood and the peculiar feeling that there’s a hidden truth about ourselves we’ve forgotten, and if only we took pains to find it we might finally feel at home.

In the section after Zemurray, the book talks about a famous song about bananas in the 1920s (another weird chapter transition), but the author goes on a tangent to talk about different popular music at the time made by the same record label. The large, decorative murals depicting the industry in full flow can be seen inside all Banana Wharf venues.

Once the diseases - panana fungus was only the first - moved in and the initial responses proved fruitless (pun not intended), more land was cleared for planting. Also, there are hundreds of different types of bananas, making the Cavendish banana we eat relatively dull. The diseases that are devastating banana production is impacting far more than the tasty fruit on our cereal, in our sundaes and smoothies. She says 'I have to keep in mind that whatever I create is going into the hands of a small child, and as such I have a responsibility to that little person.

It’s a pity, really, for I’d love to see such a quirky subject handled with more verve, but Koeppel seemed intent on watering it down for the masses. So I introduced the book by asking the kids if they thought we could tell a whole story with funny parts, and sad parts, and more with only two words. For example, Chapter 12, which focuses on the ambitious rise of banana entrepreneur Samuel Zemurray, is followed by a three-page exposition on Tin Pan Alley and the genesis of the song “Yes, We Have No Bananas. Sadly, things bite back, as in this case, when it was only a matter of time before a banana blight bred itself into existence and roared through the near-identical genetic population, leaving a swath of useless and distinctly unfunny brown rotting plants in its wake.The text’s strong rhythm and repetitive structure lends itself perfectly to dramatic readings and audience participation (be prepared for lots of shouting! It would be a good starting point to get children to think about manners but also they’re body language.

The book also suffers from a strange sort of bibliographic ADD: it can’t seem to focus on any subject for more than a few pages. But while her parents tell happy stories of her childhood, she is increasingly haunted by the sense that she’s forgotten something important about her past.Ismail is incredibly skilled at recognising, honouring and celebrating the emotional life of toddlers, and Would You Like A Banana? Both monkeys act like contrary toddlers, which makes this an ideal title to read to a real toddler - particularly if you are always trying to get him or her to say 'please'! It starts with its beginnings in Asia, its geographic and evolutionary progressing, and the arrival of the banana to America. From the beloved, bestselling author of Kitchen, comes a deeply haunting, heartwarming exploration of loneliness and painful memories set in Japan.