Choose Good Food!: My Eating Tips

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 22, 2015

Review

Part of the “My Healthy Habits” series from Cloverleaf Books, this title is aimed at readers K through 2nd grade, but due to the oversimplification of the material and the lack of any depth at all, I would only use this book with very young children, pre-K through K. Perhaps, if an older child has never had any education about nutrition at all, this title would be a good starting point. The book begins with a father telling his son that he's a picky eater, which made me bristle because it's not a helpful tag. No child is going to eat every food, but figuring out which healthy foods he or she does eat is the goal, not labeling children. The book does get there, but the first few pages are off-putting. Healthy eating is mentioned, as are the food groups, and there are circles with additional, factual information to supplement the light narrative (what is a nutrient, what is grain, importance of breakfast) but the story is not quite realistic (not many kids would be satisfied with popcorn with almonds & raisins for dessert or offer to eat tuna salad just because he is hungry, when it was already stated that he doesn't like it at all). Overall, the book would not be bad to have in a collection as talking about healthy eating is always better than not talking about it, and a child might bring this home and feel empowered to implement positive changes in his or her family eating habits, but this is an unremarkable title. Illustrations are computer-generated and cartoonish; they work with the book, but are simplistic.

Overall Book Score: fair