Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Mixter Twizzle’s Breakfast
By Regan W.H. Macaulay
Illustrated by Wei Lu

Mirror World Publishing
September 1, 2018/ ISBN 978-1987976496
Children / Fiction / Animals

Reviewed by Leslie C. Halpern

 

This picture book for young readers introduces a devilish little two-horned creature named Mixter Twizzle, who lives beneath a chicken coop on Riverdale Farm. He doesn’t take up residence there and dance to the clucks of chickens because he enjoys the company of barnyard animals. This red-colored demon known as Mixter quivers at the first sign of hens laying eggs because he leaps up through a hole in the barn coop and eats the eggs for his breakfast.

With his strange speaking style, Mixter exclaims as he leaps: “The eggsies is coming from under the feathered beasts! My breakfast is ready, by fork and by spork! My breakfast arrives, let the minutes come faster! Be hesty! Be hasty!” He then swipes eggs from under their fluffy tails while the hens peck at birdfeed. As the horrified hens watch this monster steal their babies, Mixter taunts them further by juggling their eggs before tossing them down his throat and carrying the remaining eggs to his dark home beneath the coop.

After gorging on stolen eggs one day, Mixter realizes how lonely he is without friends. He jumps through the hole and attempts to reach out to the hens, who naturally want nothing to do with the monstrous little egg stealer. So Mixter snatches a lone egg and takes it back to his room where he saves it for later by sitting on it like a mother hen would do. Suddenly the egg hatches, and he shrieks and runs away from the tiny baby that emerges from the shell. To his dismay, the baby follows him everywhere and is desperate to show love to what it thinks is its mother. “You are my Mommy!” the ball of fluff cries before embracing him. That moment of friendship changes something inside of Mixter, who decides it’s more important to have friends than to cause harm to others.

The text is enhanced by colorful illustrations on each page that depict Mixter and the barnyard animals. Mixter’s behavior and appearance are frightening enough to show he’s a monster, but his cute name and quirky stylized speech add a fun element that makes him safe for children. The story teaches a lesson about the loneliness that comes with bullying behavior, and vegans can find another lesson in the book, as well.

Parents and teachers will enjoy the morals in the book, in addition to the clever wordplay. Children will love the artwork and tongue-twisting adventures of this little monster who needs to be taught right from wrong.

Reviewed 2018
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