Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. This book is all about making connections, and though it does a respectable job, there's still room for improvement. Each spread introduces a different food. The first spread explains that cocoa beans are seeds that grow on cocoa trees, chocolate is produced by grinding and cooking cocoa beans, and hot chocolate is made from chocolate. But the photos aren't well matched to the statements: the first (and largest) photo shows the inside of a cocoa bean; the next (a smaller, rather indistinct one) shows the bean hanging on the tree; and the last shows a smiling boy drinking cocoa. The placement of the photographs varies from spread to spread, and although some of the pictures are wonderfully crisp, a few are difficult to make out. An interesting fact (a lemon is a type of berry ) appears somewhere on each spread. Children who have never thought about the origins of maple syrup or salt will have their eyes opened in a way that makes them think about how other products come to their lives. For slightly older readers, suggest Rachel Eagen's The Biography of Bananas, reviewed on p.87. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Large print, a well-spaced text, varied typeface, simple explanations, and appealing color photos of children on every page make this book a pleasant reading experience. "Did you know?" insets appear at every turn, providing additional and fascinating food-related trivia, such as, "There are more than 7,000 different kinds of apples." A sentence or two discuss cocoa beans, potatoes, bread, grains, cornstalks, popcorn, milk, lemons, eggs, tomatoes, peanuts, grapes, and more. This is a book that teachers, librarians, and parents will find useful, informative, and fun to share.-Augusta R. Malvagno, Queens Borough Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
