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diggBooks about food
Providing a health dose of wisdom for young people
Shelly G. Keller
Lunch by Denise Fleming
“This fall we have walk-to-school events that encourage kids to move and exercise. We work with schools, school districts and PTAs. Benicia Unified School District did a ‘walking bus’ so kids could walk to school in groups. The point is to help everyone understand that we need to be moving more. We’re also planning another parent and child dinner preparation class. We focused on cooking seasonal foods. In my long history with Extension, this was one of my most meaningful classes ever. People didn’t want to go home!”
Metz chose her book recommendations from a Reading Across My Pyramid booklist created by UC Cooperative Extension professionals. Her recommendations include a book for each food group.
Baby-Preschool
Metz says Bread, Bread, Bread (HarperTrophy, $6.99) by Ann Morris with photographs by Ken Heyman reveals how people eat and live the world over. “This book celebrates many kinds of bread and many different cultures. With lots of photos and large print, it’s perfect for three-to-six year olds. Everybody eats bread. We may use different grains and call it different names—nan, bagel, tortilla, baguette—but everybody eats bread.” Dazzling full-color photos provide a memorable lesson about both food and cultural diversity. Ages 4-8
Growing Vegetable Soup (Red Wagon Books, $10.95) by Lois Ehlert is now available as a lap-sized board book. Metz says this book can help children understand more about where our food comes from. “It’s about a father and child who plant a vegetable garden and how they share the joys of planting, watering and watching seeds grow. Then they pick the vegetables and make the best vegetable soup ever. This book is like Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle—but for younger kids.” Growing Vegetable Soup dishes up a healthy dose of information on growing and nurturing things, while shedding light on the simple pleasures of gardening. Lunch (Henry Holt and Co., $6.95) by Denise Fleming is the colorful tale of a little mouse that nibbles and crunches his way through lunch. “In the process of munching, he eats all kinds of fruits and vegetables. This book provides several lessons about food, from packing a nutritious lunch to making sure we eat a variety of veggies.” Fleming’s pulp painting technique coats each page with vibrant hues, making it amazing to look at while being funny as all get out.
Metz grew up on a dairy farm in Chowchilla. “I like dairy cows a lot and so many children have no idea that milk comes from cows. This book helps them make that connection.” Kiss the Cow! (Candlewick, $5.99) by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand tells the story of Mama May who had so many children she couldn’t count them all. “This is a magical story about a stubborn little girl named Annalisa and a magic cow who doesn’t give milk until it gets kisses.” Annalisa’s refusal to kiss the cow causes chaos when the cow won’t provide any milk and there are lots of hungry, crying children. The book’s jaunty, read-aloud pace will have youngsters rooting for Annalisa to kiss the cow and save the day. 
Two Eggs, Please (Aladdin, $6.99) by Sarah Weeks and illustrated by Betsy Lewin tells the story of a menagerie of animals in a diner, each one ordering “Two eggs, please.” Metz says this cute story is set in a diner where all the animals order eggs, only everyone wants them cooked differently. “Children learn how eggs may look alike in the shell, but how we cook them makes them look different. It’s about science, change and problem solving. Science is part of life and this book helps children understand that science is also about food.” The author and illustrator excel at exploring the concept of things being different while also being the same.
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