Fruit

Children's Literature - Meredith Kiger

This fun and interesting series of five books focusing on good nutrition is designed to make an impact on preschool and early elementary students. This edition on fruits contains bright, colorful, cartoon-like illustrations and photos, an in-your-face format, and amusing but accurate text that makes an often boring subject inviting. Discussion begins with a balanced diet and its importance, featuring a graphic on daily intake that actually makes more sense than the "new" pyramid touted by the United States Department of Agriculture. The nutritional characteristics of fruit as well as kinds of fruit are discussed, and their difference from vegetables in our diet is also dealt with. Tips on how to include fruit in your lunch and snacks are included. A discussion on dried fruits, tropical fruits, fruit juices, and the difference between canned and frozen with still more encouragement for including them in your diet are accompanied by plenty of photos. Fruit consumption in other cultures and countries makes an informative addition. Two pages of true-false, short answer, and multiple choice quizzes, and a glossary, index, and suggestions for parents and teachers are added attractions. This book is a winner for any age group and never more important than now. Part of the "What's for Lunch?" series.

Children's Literature - Gwynne Spencer

This large-print easy reader introduces readers to oranges, melons, pears, pineapples, bananas, peaches, grapes, and strawberries. Each book in the "On Your Plate" series includes all-color pictures with one or two sentences of accompanying text and a smaller print sentence of additional text; it is like a Powerpoint presentation that has been turned into a book. Throughout the series, the term "healthy" is misused (i.e., things are "healthful" while people are "healthy," according to my usage guides). While the apple is shown with a tree, oranges are not. Melons have no mention of how they grow but since they are placed between oranges and pears, kids might logically assume they grow on trees, too. Readers might have liked to see how pineapples grow, but the fruit is shown on a white background with a section of it open. While grapes are shown on a vine, peaches are similarly shown already sliced. The book ends with a two-page "Things To Do" matching quiz that readers can use to test their memory of the text. A brief glossary and index are included. The publisher-provided blurb suggests that "[l]atch-key kids will also appreciate the number of recipes and meal suggestions included in each volume." There were, however, NO recipes in this volume. Reviewer: Gwynne Spencer