HOW DOES OUR FOOD GROW?

Rhymed introductions to common fruits and vegetables, with recipes that use them.

Widdowson’s lively scenes of smiling, racially diverse people cultivating or shopping for brightly colored foodstuffs create a positive mood for this international survey, but the written portions are lacking. Not only does Jorden dangerously assert that “All berries are yummy AND good for your brain” and, nonsensically, that “Corn has ‘ears’ but it can’t talk,” her unrhymed side notes include hard-to-answer questions like “How many different kinds [of apples] have you tried?” (no examples are provided) as well as a simplistic translation of the scientific name for pineapple and an equally questionable claim that frozen bananas are a popular treat in the United States. Of the seven recipes at the end, which are drawn from a 2022 cookbook for adults, an amusing “Make Do Ratatou(ille)” includes “4 medium bruised tomatoes,” “2 medium red onions on their last legs,” and “2 teaspoons fresh rosemary that has been in your refrigerator far too long” but, like the others, comes with a long list of ingredients and isn’t particularly child appropriate. The spread of exhortations to develop sustainable eating habits sandwiched between the two sections is too generalized to be convincing. Laura Mucha, Ed Smith, and Harriet Lynas’ Welcome to Our Table (2023) makes a more nourishing choice for cluing children in to where their food comes from. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Likely to have trouble finding an audience.