Children’s Books with Food Themes

We are a family of readers, and my boys love the time we spend every day reading stories together. When the boys were very young, I began choosing books about food, wanting to introduce them to a healthy, well-rounded diet as soon as possible These are some of our family’s favorite books with food themes. The books are geared toward ages 0 to 6 for reading aloud, though some older children could read these on their own. I read these books with all my boys together, and though Monkey Boy (age 2) doesn’t necessarily understand some of the story, he still enjoys looking at the pictures and laughing along with his brothers. If you have children in the 7 to 9 age range, they may still enjoy hearing these stories or may even want to read to their younger siblings.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

“In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.”

A caterpillar emerges from the egg and goes in search of food. My boys have fun counting all the things the caterpillar eats.

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Children’s Books with Gardening Themes

“I want to help!”

I was separating grape tomato plants, preparing them for planting, and Bob the Builder (5) and Top Gun (3) were reaching for plants as I worked. Our family plants an outdoor herb and vegetable garden every spring and we keep an indoor herb garden year-round. When I’m planting seeds I let the boys get right in and help, but I had visions of battered plants and decided this was one of those times they needed to watch a little before trying on their own. I demonstrated how to pull gently to separate the tangled mass of roots and pour dirt around the plants in the cups. After watching them nearly squeeze a couple plants to death, I decided pouring the dirt would be a better job for my boys! They get very excited, but tend to have a bull-in-china-shop approach.

They have some favorite books with gardening themes, each of which I see constantly laying around or handed to me for story time. I enjoy the stories as much as the boys, especially when they pull up next to me and ask to help plant the seeds or flowers or vegetables and talk about things that we’ve read. They like playing in the dirt as much as I do, and we want to continue encouraging that.

Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

“Every year Mom and I plant a rainbow.”

The story starts in the fall with planting different kinds of bulbs and goes throughout the year of planning and planting a garden. Our boys enjoy identifying the colors and different types of flowers, as well as seeing the stages of growth. Abstract illustrations.

Read aloud: 0 to 4 Read more

He Said Beer, She Said Wine and a Give Away

What do you get when you put together a highly regarded sommelier and a craft brewer? You get a very entertaining evening of good food and beverages as well as good-natured banter about the attributes of the wine and beer and how well each pairs with particular foods. Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and Marnie Old, award-winning sommelier and wine educator, put their talents and impressive knowledge of wine and beer together to create an accessible and informative book about pairing beer and wine with food.

The book, recently released by DK Publishing, is a spin off from the “competitive dinners” that Old and Calagione started in 2003 at his brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Each evening offers a five course meal, and each course comes with both a beer and a wine pairing. Using anonymous ballots, the diners vote for the best pairing for each course, and though both Marnie and Sam thought there would be a clear winner, that has never been the case. The margins have been slim, and the number of wins for either side has been pretty even, strong evidence that beer and wine both pair well with a variety of foods. Read more

Review: The Spatulatta Cookbook

When I was invited to review the recently released Spatulatta Cookbook, my answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!” and I couldn’t wait to see what the girls from Spatulatta had cooked up.

Spatulatta.com is a James Beard award-winning website with video cooking lessons for kids. The hosts are Isabella and Olivia Gerasole, sisters ages 11 and 9, and they do all the video demonstrations. If you have not seen the website, you must go and visit it because the videos are lively and fun. The girls, who are naturals in front of a camera, prepare foods while their mom and other guests help out with things like cutting, assembling the food processor, and working with the stove or oven. Spatulatta has webcasts demonstrating recipes and basic skills, such as separating eggs and chopping an onion.

The full-color cookbook, which was released this month, begins with a basic skills overview for such tasks as chopping, shredding and grating cheese, measuring, and food safety, and also includes information on essential cooking tools and measurements. Read more