The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Every Day

Soup's on at the Edible Pyramid, a restaurant that Loreen Leedy devised to introduce young readers to sound, healthy eating. When first published in 1994, this book was a Reading Rainbow selection. Now it's been revised to incorporate the United States Department of Agriculture's newly redesigned food pyramid, along with the latest research on nutrition.

Children's Literature

Based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's redesigned food pyramid, this book retains the same feel and format of the original. Most of the illustrations have remained the same or are very similar. As before, an elegantly dressed cat welcomes a menagerie of animals to the grand opening of the Edible Pyramid restaurant and then proceeds to educate them about recommended foods and serving sizes. In accordance with the new guidelines, amounts are listed in ounces and cups. Several items in the bread group now include multigrain designations, and a millet roll is introduced. The pages featuring cereals have been eliminated. A few of these items are included on pages devoted to pasta and grains. The pages depicting vegetables and fruits are essentially unchanged. Characters are moved around a bit and types of yogurts are shown on the milk pages. Clams have replaced caviar and a boiled egg is shown instead of a poached egg on the protein pages. Seeds have been added to the beans-and-nuts spread. Oils and solid fats have been separated out with some appropriate substitutions. Sweets have been shifted to their own page. Readers are warned about the dangers of gaining weight. Combinations of foods and sample meals are similar. A two-page spread emphasizing the need for physical activity has been added, as has a reference to the government web site about the Food Guide Pyramid. A worthy replacement or addition for library collections.