These days more and more people are interested in knowing where their food comes from. And that’s a good thing, in my opinion. So I was thrilled to come across a book that gets elementary school-age kids thinking along the same lines. With easy-to-understand prose by Chris Butterworth and colorful retro-style illustrations by Lucia Gaggiotti, How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food helps children realize that the food they consume doesn’t just grow in stores. In fact, the food they take for granted looks very different at the source, whether it’s from a dairy, orchard, or field.
Butterworth cleverly begins her tale with the lunchbox: “One of the best parts of the day is when you lift the lid of your lunchbox to see what’s inside.” And she poses the question: “So where did it come from before it was in the store?” From there, subsequent spreads outline the journey of each item in the lunchbox. Clear, conversational text accompanied by step-by-step spot illustrations describe how wheat is made into bread, milk turns into cheese, apple blossoms end up as juice in a box, and beans on a cocoa tree become chocolate chips in a cookie. At the end of each explanation, Butterworth invites young readers to also think about how the food tastes: “Take a bite of the bread in your sandwich—MMMMMM, crusty on the outside and soft in the middle!”
One can nitpick about how the explanations are too simplified and idealistic— food processing plants are spotlessly clean environments and you see pictures of farm and factory workers happily involved in much of the growing and manufacturing process (wouldn’t that be great?!). But this isn’t meant to be a kids’ version of Food, Inc. There is actually a lot of information here for children to digest and it’s presented in an appealing, engaging way. How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? is a book that gives kids a lot of food for thought—in the process, it may even inspire healthy eating.
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Can you recommend other books that teach children about food and nutrition? What books have you found get kids interested in healthy eating?
