Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus
Two aliens show off their cooking skills in Leila Boukarim’s entertaining graphic novel-cum-cookbook Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus.
Zips and Eeloo, natives of the planet Zooglebeep, have been on Earth for six days. As “Certified Human Experts in All Things Human,” they guide their young human audience through the process of making hummus. After washing their appendages and gathering their ingredients, they begin draining, mashing, mixing, and peeling with bright, cheerful attitudes. The result is a delicious batch of hummus that the aliens enjoy while wondering, “What shall we make next?”
The illustrations are big, bright, and colorful, emphasizing Zips and Eeloo’s pronounced, emotive facial expressions. Herein, cooking is portrayed as an enjoyable adventure—a message that’s reinforced by the lively interactions between the aliens. There are silly mishaps, as when Eeloo confuses cooking bowls with bowling, the sport. And the aliens delight in easy amusements, as where they repeat “garbanzo” aloud. Relatably, they also make mistakes like adding sugar instead of salt; they make a mess at times, too. Their recipe for Very Human Hummus concludes the book.
Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus is a wonder-filled graphic novel introduction to the art of food preparation—with an extraterrestrial twist.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
