Tim Kleyn’s 2024 picture book Grilled Cheese? YES, PLEASE! starts with promising scenario: Margot is helping her Grandpa make grilled cheese as they wait for Margot’s mom to come home…from the sea…in a dark day of “big crashing waves.” So, right away, we have intergenerational activity, anticipation, and active reason to work: dark skies and big waves threaten all boats.
They wait, but instead of Margot’s mother, a different boat shows up, then another, then another. Margot and her grandfather offer each visitor grilled cheese and soup, which leaves Margot worrying there won’t be any left for her mother.
Eventually Mama shows up, but the sea has gotten so rough that it takes not just the family members but all the visitors to get to her boat, throw her a rope, and help her to shore.
Margot’s glad her mother is safe, but disappointed that they are almost out of food for her. However, it turns out her mother bought bread, and the various visitors offer things they brought with them, like “mushrooms from Mushroom Island” to add to the meal, extending what they have and making a meal into a shared feast.
So, solid premise, and the images of the sea are good. The execution of the story, though, left me flat. The dialogue is a bit stiff, the lessons on the overt side, and some things not explained (like where did Mama buy the bread on the wild sea?).
