A fruity way to learn

Food for Thought

by Saxton Freyman and Joost Elffers

Someone forgot to tell this duo not to play with their food. Thank goodness, or kids wouldn’t have such startling sculptures of bok choy fish or cauliflower sheep to teach them basic concepts: colors, shapes, numbers, letters and opposites. Eye-catching colors and uncluttered layouts keep this fruity menagerie moving along.

The foods are real -- and after several readings, I'm still scrutinizing the pages to see just how the artists did it. Even knowing they used black-eyed peas for eyes doesn’t affect the magic: How did they find all those peppers with silly faces? How come my bruised bananas never look like giraffes?

I brought this book to my son’s pre-school and the teacher didn’t want to part with it: the kids wouldn’t let her put it down. You’ll never look at salad the same way again.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Comments

[brettdl]

The book has the added bonus in that it might encourage kids to eat fruit and vegetables.

[elswhere]

There are several others by these authors featuring expressive fruites & vegetables-- "How Are You Peeling?" is my favorite and is a great, lighthearted springboard for talking about emotions, too.

[Anne]

Excellent -- I'll have to check it out. Thanks.

[Renee]

I, too, found this excellent book and love it. Who thinks of this stuff? And how can I thank them for it? I look at brocolli and just think, "should I use butter or not?" I definitely second your recommendation.