We Go Together....: You Are the Pea, And I Am the Carrot by J. Theron Elkins

WE BELONG TOGETHER.

A MATCH THIS GOOD IS RARE.

TOGETHER WE'RE JUST BETTER.

WE'RE AN APPETIZING PAIR.

Peas and carrots make a delish dish. But how about mac 'n' cheese, biscuits and jam, yogurt and blueberries, zesty dressing and a lettuce wedge, or a hot dog with relish?

Young readers will relish J. Theron Elkins' brand-new pea parable of perfect blendship in food and friendship, You Are the Pea, and I Am the Carrot (Abrams, 2013). Caramel and vanilla bean ice cream, ice cubes and sweet tea, pancakes and syrup, and burgers and chips, all combos that have a natural affinity for each other, are emblematic of the ways of friendship, illustrated with simple wit and and appeal by Pascal LeMaitre. But there's a little more than a salute to the Food Channel here, as Elkins' human narrators enjoy comparing their pairing with favorite food combos, thanks to LeMaitre's tongue-in-cheek cartoons. Good friends stick together like peanut butter and jelly in a lunch box sandwich. A showcase of inventive foodie anthropomorphism and sweet silliness," says Publishers Weekly.

Food Fest: If All the World Were Food by Carl Warner

IF ALL THE WORLD WERE ORANGE,
WE WOULD LIVE IN PUMPKIN HOUSES
WHERE CARROTS, BEANS, AND TANGERINES
FORM TREES AND ROCKS AROUND US.

Only a fantastical, fanatical foodie could conjure up a world composed solely of foodstuffs, in colors for every season and time of year. A world of green? Yes, with trees of curly kale and broccoli, and bridges of carved cucumber.

A world of brown? Well, lots of chocolate for starters!

In a world of silver the sea would be shiny-scaled fish. A world of pink would be a world built of bubble gum, hot pink gummy worms, and jelly beans, and a world of white would be filled with ice cream castles with waffle cone turrets.

With illustrations both realistic and surrealistic, there’s something for every child’s taste in Carl Warner’s imaginative A World of Food: Discover Magical Lands Made of Things You Can Eat! (Abrams, 2012). As in his 2010 Carl Warner's Food Landscapes Warner’s fanciful but meticulous illustrations in a super-saturated palette make for lots of eye-candy appeal, and in this latest, there is a  lot of detail on each color’s double-page spread to make this book an ebullient browse. For classroom food units or just food-fun reading, pair this one with Caldecott artist David Wiesner’s June 29, 1999 or Judi Barrett’s all-time food-fest favorite, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  Publishers Weekly puts in a plug: "A delightful supplement that should be browsed at leisure."

Tuna Fish Cupcakes? Just Grace and the Snack Attack by Charise Mericle Harper

QUIET THANKS!

1) Thank you, Mimi, for being the best friend in the whole world that a person could have.

2) Thank you, Miss Lois, for trying to be a more fun teacher like Mr. Frank and not so bossy and not smiling like you used to be.

3) Merci (which is French for "thank you"),
Augustine Dupre, for having great ideas all the time and living in the nice apartment in my basement.

4) And finally, thank you, Owen 1, for picking on Sunni and saying that her lunch was disgusting and looked like worms.

Why am I thanking Owen 1?

Why? Well, Owen 1 (one of three Owens in Just Grace's class) has a bad case of logorrhea: words better left unspoken seem to proceed out of his mouth without passing through his brain. But this time, Owen's faux pas delights Grace and some squeamish members of the class. Principal Harris, who overhears the unfortunate remark, and Miss Lois decide that the class could do with a bit of gustatory sensitivity training, and Miss Lois announces, to the secret glee of some kids in the class, that their unit of frog physiology will be postponed indefinitely while the class undertakes projects on "unique snacks around the world."

Momentarily, Just Grace is elated to be spared the sight of frog guts during science class, but her concern soon turns to choosing her own snack project. Her best friend Mimi decides on "Hot Dogs Around the World" and Grace's dad, a major Chicago-style hot dog fan, volunteers to help Mimi out. Grace is jealous of her dad's enthusiasm for her friend's idea, and slips away to visit her spiffy downstairs neighbor, the glamorous Frenchwoman and flight attendant Augustine Dupre. Luckily for Grace, Augustine serendipitously has a little present for her from her latest trans-Atlantic flight, roasted-chicken-flavored potato chips from La Belle France, and, voila', Grace has the subject for her project!

Owen 1, meanwhile, is not faring so well with the boy population of the class, most of whom had been looking forward to grossing out the girls with their frog dissections, and, more nervous than ever, Owen 1 responds by being even more of an annoyance than ever. Finally Just Grace has had it with his off-the-wall remarks and without thinking, throws her pencil at him. Surprisingly, Owen 1 covers for her with Miss Lois, and Just Grace is just amazed that Owen turns out to a better friend to her than she has been to him.

Little life lessons and funny escapades mark this latest in Charise Mericle Harper's Just Grace and the Snack Attack (Houghton Mifflin, 2009) in her delightful beginning chapter series Just Grace. Fans of such fabulously funny third-grade heroines as Paula Danziger's Amber Brown will take to this series, like Just Grace's weiner-worshipping dad, with relish!

"Give Peas a Chance?" Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements

Something TERRIBLE happens every Tuesday night.

It's not the pork chop or the mashed potatoes.

It all starts when I'm forced to eat. . . PEAS!

My parents act as if I'm making it up, but I'm NOT! With just the slightest touch. . .IT begins!

While Mom and Dad watch with weary fascination, (Dad--"Time for another fun-filled hour." Mom--'And we're off!") PEAS-aphobia sets in. First the kid's hands begin to wiggle almost imperceptibly. Then his eyes begin to water and his toes twist and curl up inside his shoes. (Dad--"That's a new one."!)

"I try to keep control" the kid manages to say, "but the pea is too strong. I start to transform into

A VEGGIE MONSTER!"

But just as a full-fledged food fit is about to take over, the kid accidentally swallows the pea. ("GULP! It tasted all right really," the kid observes with surprise.) (Dad--"Quite a performance tonight." Mom--I particularly enjoyed the toe-curling.")

With the kid's new taste for the spherical veggie, the pea performance seems to be passe. But tomorrow is Wednesday and Wednesday brings another dinner theatre of its own. Because Wednesday dinner means . . .

BROCCOLI!

George McClements' Night of the Veggie Monster brings us another familiar episode in the famous family food fight drama. McClements' googly-eyed picky eater and his bemused and slightly sarcastic parents act out their well-worn roles in familiar but hilarious fashion as the much-maligned pea is finally consumed.

For an even more "peas-full pair," put this one with Rookie Reader classic Eat Your Peas Louise (Rookie Readers). Although they may not bring, um, peace to the table when peas are on the plate, they will definitely tantalize the funny bone and whet the appetite of early readers.

Food Fight! How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

How does a dinosaur
eat his food?
Does he spit out his broccoli
partially chewed?

Does he pick at his cereal,
Throw down his cup,
hoping to make someone else pick it up?

With the possible exception of bedtime bedlam, nothing gets to parents more than the daily food fight with small children. Even if (and this is a big IF--viz my recent post on sneaking nutrients into chicken nuggets, et al, in Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food),)--your child is an omnivorous and enthusiastic eater, there are still plenty of dinner table behaviors that need to be, um, reshaped in early childhood. Luckily, the team of Yolen and Teague have turned their considerable talents to this particular problem, harnessing the dynamics of deviate dinosaurs to lead kids in the way they should go.

In How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? Mark Teague's illustrations of rarely seen dinosaurs such as the quetzalcoatlus, spinosaurus, and gorgosaurus show dinosaurs engaging in all those unwanted behaviors:

Does he fuss,
does he fidget?
Does he squirm in his chair?

Does he flip his spaghetti,
high in the air?

Well, of course not. After we've had our fun watching appalled waitresses and abashed dogs and cats reacting to such abominations, Teague's dinosaurs model the best of behavior.

No.... He says, "Please"
and "Thank you.
He sits very still.

He eats all before him
with smiles
and good will.

If only! Still, Yolen's arresting rhymes and Teague's colorful, overacting dinos get kids' attention while they slip in some suggestions on how to be delightful dinosaurs at the family table. Most of the dinosaurs are identified by lettering to be searched out in each illustration, and all are shown and identified in the clever endpapers of this title in this popular series of wise and witty ways to encourage good behavior.

Too Much of a Good Thing!: Too Many Pears!

Jackie French's Too Many Pears! portrays a bovine binge eater named Pamela who has an obsession with pears--fresh pears, stewed pears, pears on picnics, and especially pear pie, which she purloins from the windowsill as it cools.

When Grandpa builds a protective fence around the pear tree, Pamela burrows underground to get at them; when he ties her up, she uproots the tree she's tied to and drags it along to pursue pear munching. The family despairs of ever having a pear to share again.

Then young Amy hits on a plan of providing Pamela with a plentitude of pears, so many pears that even Pamela reaches her satiation point! Amy's bet pays off. Pamela reaches that point after crunching 600 pears, loses her happy smile, and all interest in pears--in perpetuity. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the family), there ARE all those lovely apples hanging on another tree!

Bruce Whatley's illustrations are perfect, with Pamela as a huge Holstein with a spot in the shape of a pear on her right flank and one spot in the shape of an apple on her left side. His illustrations of the character's eyes are particularly expressive and hilarious, and his watercolor double-page spreads, firmly grounded on the bottom of each page, are particularly effective against their white background. Pamela's single-minded pursuit of pears is perfectly rendered in her solid body and smiling face as she stolidly follows her bliss!