Teaching Children to Eat Healthier Just Became Easier!
August 20th, 2012 
Carol 
From apple and aguacate, to zucchini and zarzamora, “Healthy Foods from A to Z / Comida sana de la A a la Z” is an innovative bilingual book (English/Spanish) that will delight children, parents, students and teachers alike.
Designed to inspire young children to eat healthy foods–as well as learn their ABCs–this book features 18 charming faces that depict a range of emotions young children can understand. Each face engages a child into the world of healthy eating, is artfully composed of foods beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet and is surrounded on both sides with small food icons that make up the face. These icons are identified by vocabulary in both languages and include some of the most nutritious fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and soy products available today.
With the help of a parent or teacher, a second part of the book allows children to interact in a tactile manner with the foods themselves by encouraging them to create their own food faces and follow simple instructions with a sample sketch. Additional food activities involving art, language, science and math are suggested for home or class participation. You can make a game out of finding a specific food in a face or pick a new food item from the book and fix it for snack or dinner! You can also taste some new foods and discuss whether you like them or not at home or in the classroom! You can even compare what people from different cultures eat! Just food for thought and stimulating conversation for young children.
The back of the book is reserved for older kids and adults (or adults reading to younger children) with short captions and small photos describing some of the origins and nutritional benefits of 70 super foods–with special emphasis on their vitamin content and their impact on one’s health. For example, did you know that strawberries are a member of the rose family and have been cultivated since Roman times? Did you also know that they can lower bad cholesterol and high blood pressure–in additional to being tasty?
“Healthy Foods from A to Z / Comida sana de la A a la Z” is sure to put a smile on the faces of children and their parents (and teachers) as they learn new words, new facts, and discover new delicious foods in the English and Spanish-speaking world. The interactive pages and lovely illustrations by well-known Washington, D.C-based food photographer Renée Comet will invite children to visit the book over and over again.
Stephanie Maze, Project Editor of the award-winning MOMENTS IN THE WILD series in English & Spanish, also produced the acclaimed I WANT TO BE… series about careers published by Harcourt Brace Children’s Books. In 1998, this series earned a place on VOYA’s Nonfiction Honor list, and two of the titles, “I Want To Be A Veterinarian” and “I Want To Be An Engineer” were named “Outstanding Science Trade Books” by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Council. A third title, “I Want To Be A Chef”, received a starred review in School Library Journal in 1999.
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