Books for Preschoolers - Play with Your Food

Play With Your Food
by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann

From the Book

"Play with Your Food" celebrates our roots, often literally. It trains us to see common and uncommon fruits and vegetables as other living forms"

"Even a child is empowered to create instantly, to transform one thing into another."

"...children who are chronically poor eaters can see food in a new light. They can be amused and entertained by food, making the eating more attractive, more meaningful, and even more fun."

About the Book

Play with Your Food is over 100 pages of color photos showing fruits and vegetables that were selected, positioned, and fashioned to resemble living creatures. From pear bears and lemon pigs to singing scallions and gai choy Pekingese dogs, you and your children can learn to see food in new ways and be inspired to make your own charming creatures.

In addition to the Vegetable Zoo - the pictorial section of animal-like fruits and vegetables - Play with Your Food has sections that describe how the authors created each animal and pointers for choosing ingredients for body parts such as eyes, hair and teeth. Plus, several pages are devoted to creating facial expressions, using innovative pumpkin carvings as examples.

From the Reviewer

This book provides many levels of enjoyment for you and your preschooler. When you first open the book, you can't help but browse page after page of photos to discover what captivating creation comes next. There is something very delightful in recognizing human or animal characteristics in ordinary objects like fruits and vegetables.

Then, without any planning or preparation, you and your preschooler can head to the kitchen to make the simpler creatures, such as the 'banana octopus' or 'grape ant.' Add a knife, beans, toothpicks, and a few more foods from the farmer's market and the projects are limitless!

In addition to the visual fun, the book has an introductory section which describes how our imaginations can find human or animal traits in everyday surroundings - like the child's classic pastime of finding images in the clouds. The authors also present lots of interesting facts about food's place in art and history.

This book is a wonderful spark to the imagination!

Book Details 

Title: Play with Your Food
Hardcover: 109 pages
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang (September 1997)
Language: English
ISBN: 1556706308

Play with Your Food Calendar

For more fun food creations, see the 2007 calendar - Food for Thought: Play with Your Food

 

 

What Are Your Comments on this Book?

Have you seen this book? Share your own comments with other parents and teachers.

 

by Kati Chevaux

---

Like this article? Get more like it in your inbox. Subscribe today to our free weekly newsletter.