Susanna Leonard Hill has a feature on her blog called Perfect Picture Book Friday. It is a list of “perfect” picture books recommended by all sorts of people. My Mom actually got this book for my little sister. My mom got it because she really liked the pictures. She said they reminded her of books from when she was a kid. I chose this book for a Perfect Picture Book because it teaches about where food came from and it is a nice non-fiction picture book for little kids. I also think it’s important to think about where our food comes from.
How Did That Get In My Lunchbox? The Story of Food
By – Chris Butterworth
Illustrated by – Lucia Gaggiotti
32 pages – ages 4+
Published by Candlewick on January 25, 2011
Theme/Topic – Food Production / Nutrition
Opening and Synopsis – “ONE of the best parts of the day is when you lift the lid off your lunchbox to see what’s inside. Your parents have packed it with lots of tasty things to eat. The probably got all the food from a grocery store – but food doesn’t grow in grocery stores! So where did it come from before it was in the store?”
Bread, tomatoes, cheese, you buy it from a store, but where does the store get it? That’s what this book tells us! It says things like how the bread on your sandwich is made, how those red, juicy tomatoes make it to your container, and how cheese is formed! From the farm to the processing plant to the delivery truck, this book explains where food really comes from!
Why I liked this book – “How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?” is a great book to teach kids about food in a really fun and easy to understand way! It’s nice to find non-fiction picture books that are fun to read. The book goes through the basics you need to make a healthy lunch (except for the chocolate chip cookie – but everyone needs a little “junk food” once in awhile). I agree with my Mom that the illustrations are awesome! Take a look!
This book was awarded the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Book of the Year 2011 and was awarded NSTA (National Science Teachers Association)-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books For Students K-12 2012.
Activities and Resources –
This is a neat video about the book from the American Farm Bureau –
Teachers can find educational guides, posters and activities related to this book and other agricultural things at the American Farm Bureau HERE.
The University of Illinois has a fun site that talks about how food gets to our stores from all over the world. There are games and activities there too. Click HERE to go to it.
I think parents could take kids to a farm or have their kids cook something with them and talk about where all the ingredients come from.
To find more Perfect Picture Books please visit Susanna Hill’s blog HERE!
Looks like a great one for my niece. Thanks for the recommendation and helpful review!
Thank you! I hope that your niece likes it!
Erik that is a super idea and my husband used to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse, so this is the perfect book to show the kids what daddy used to do.
I hope your family likes it! I thought it was a good book!
Thanks for introducing me to a nonfiction picture book, Erik. These illustrations look fabulous. I’m adding it to my list.
The illustrations are really good! You always have so many great non–fiction books! I am happy I could tell you about one!! 🙂
Great choice. I grow loads of different varieties of tomatoes every year. These illustrations are awesome. Did your sister enjoy it?
I liked it a lot! 🙂
I am glad Josie 🙂
It’s fun to grow your own fruit and vegetables. We grow apples, tomatos, cucumbers, and we tried to grow watermelons but it didn’t work too well. Josie did really like the book!
This looks wonderful, Erik. What a fun way for kids to learn about the foods they eat! I put it on my library list! As usual, you did a really great job of reviewing!
Thank you Ms. Klostermann! I hope you like the book!
Great review, Erik! Sounds like a fun and informative book.
Thank you! I really liked this one!
Great selection Erik. I do believe Michelle Obama and former President Clinton would agree! This is really a great book for home and the classroom. Most kids think that food comes from the grocery store and money from the ATM. 🙂 What a creative way to teach kids about nutrition and where food comes from. I grew up with lots of vegetable gardens and a yard filled with fruit trees. So I had a better idea. But, it’s invisible to kids today. Nice choice!
Thank you Ms. TIlton! I think a lot of people will enjoy this book! I do think that a lot of kids don’t know where their food comes from or maybe never thought about it. My sister just realized that chicken (the meat) comes from chickens! We have an apple tree and a small garden every year. It’s fun to grow your own food.
Just put it on hold at my library – sounds terrific!
I hope you like it!
This book looks great, Erik! I love books that explain how things are made, or where they come from – it’s always so interesting and both kids and grown-ups are curious about those things. I really like the illustrations too. Thanks for another great addition to our list!
I like books like this too (how things are made or where they come from). I’m glad you like my pick!
What an excellent book, Erik! I love books that teach in a fun way, and this book certainly looks as though it does that!
The pictures really add a lot to the story too. I think they make the book even more fun 🙂 Thanks Ms. Stilborn!
Sounds very cool and informational. Good to know a real kid likes nonfiction books, not just “kids in general”.
I like non-fiction books that tell a story and aren’t just listing facts. This book has a fun story!
Another great book for the grandkids. They will need a bigger book shelf or maybe thier parents will need to get a bigger house!
Hee Hee! We have books all over our house too! I think it’s great 😉
The illustrationas are aweome. I agree, I like reading those nonfiction books that are interesting too.
Thanks Ms. Young!
This is a wonderful choice for PPBF, Erik! Most kids love going shopping with their parents for food…what a great book this is because it explains where the store gets the food. 🙂
Terrific resources also!!! Do you like going food shopping with your family? It’s like going on a trip around the world…that would be a fun activity I think…to write down (and maybe mark on a world map) the countries of origin of the foods we buy. 🙂
Hi Ms. Kirkfield! I do go shopping with my parents! That’s a cool idea to mark down where things come from at the store on a map! I know they always have it listed where the fruit and vegetables came from. Thanks! 🙂
I love Candlewick and this book sounds great. I’m always trying to show my daughter the bigger picture, this book would be wonderful to share with her. Thanks for the awesome recommendation, Erik!
I hope your daughter likes it! Thanks 🙂
This sounds like an awesome book! It’s sad, but too often nonfiction books just appear well boring. I’ve always been curious about how food gets to the grocery store. The illustrations look very interactive. Great review!
I have trouble with some non-fiction books. I like learning but sometimes it’s just a list of facts. I like books like this because it tells a story too. I’m glad you like my pick!
Hi Erik, this is not the first time that I’ve seen a positive review of this book. The folks over at Nonfiction Monday have featured this several times, and I am truly intrigued. It sounds like an information-packed book without being didactic in the least. Hope to find this in our community libraries soon. Many thanks for sharing.
I think it is a great book. My little sister liked it a lot too. It makes learning about food fun and I think the illustrations add to it. Now I am off to look up didactic – new word for me! Thanks 🙂
Great choice, Erik! We take it for granted that kids know all this stuff when most of them really have no idea.
Barbara
Grade ONEderful
Thank you! I think you’re right. Parents should help their kids understand where their food comes from.
Erik
Wonderful book and review Erik. Enjoyed looking it up. We have a vege garden here which I love working in; Because its summer here at the moment we have been eating peas, tomatoes and strawberries out of our garden and now the beans are plentiful, we are having some tonight for dinner fresh from the garden… Love it! Great choice Erik!
Thanks Ms. Tulloch! One year we had tomato plants in our garden, but we never harvested a red, juicy, ripe tomato from it that year. Our yellow lab kept eating them. And our ONLY ripe, red, juicy tomato was… eaten and the plant (in a pot) fell down and squished our little green tomatoes. 🙁 but other years we grew herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, wild rasberries, crab apples (from our crab apple tree), and cherries (from our tree). I can’t wait to get our garden started this year! 🙂
I’m glad you reviewed this one. Recently, my family was at a playground. We heard some children say farmers were dumb. I don’t think they “get” where our food comes from.This book would be a great resource. I’m adding it to my library list.
I hope you and Enzo like it Ms. Jensen!
This looks terrific! I’ve taken my kids to farms to show them where food comes from and they love it. We take so much for granted in our ease of just getting what we want and assuming food will always be there. Great choice Erik!
A2ZMommy and What’s In Between
Thank you Ms. Bermeo! It is really terrific! I think it’s great that you take your kids to farms to show them how their food is made! What you said is true about us assuming that food will always be there for us!
Excellent recommendation and review! It looks great. We live on a farm here in NC so I will definitely check it out. 🙂 I love books like these. So many kids have no idea of the work that goes into the food they eat.
I’m glad you like it! I hope you like the book! I like books like these too! 🙂