Vegetables

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-At first glance, these imports from Australia resemble Helen Frost's "Food Guide Pyramid Series" (Pebble, 2000). Both series have individual titles targeting the essential food groups for a primary-grade audience. However, Thomas includes more information without being text heavy (comparable to the venerable "True Books" series [Children's] format). Bold color photographs on each page focus on the foods, animals, and processing. Of the few pictures that include people (two to four per book), none include people of color. Both Dairy Products and Meat mention vegetarians and vegans and also feature a photograph showing a rich variety of foods (even a smoothie) that can be made without animal products. Dairy Products includes alternate milks (goat and soy) and quite an array of cheeses. In Meat, young readers are introduced to such delicacies as ostrich, crocodile, frogs' legs, snails, and p t . Vegetables displays the amazing variety available: tubers, leafy, stem, seeds, and bulbs. A minor omission is that the author neglects to mention freezing as a method of storing vegetables, which is surely as popular as pickling, preserving, or canning. Older readers will benefit more from Bill Haduch's Food Rules (Dutton, 2001). Lizzy Rockwell's Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition (HarperCollins, 1999) has more general information about nutrition and digestion, and includes tasty recipes.-Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.