The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Everyday

by Loreen Leedy

The head waiter—a French cat in tails—the Edible Pyramid restaurant, explains the dishes to his customers, a menagerie of other animals in equally formal attire. Each segment of the pyramid is presented in a two-page spread, defining the food group mentioned and illustrating it with many mouth-watering examples. The recommended number of daily servings is also explained, and after going through the entire menu, the maitre’d helps his diners select a balanced meal. Paintings of the animals and food are done in muted colours. A small pyramid appears in the corner of each illustration, with the block being examined highlighted.

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Nutrition, Health, Nonfiction, Childrens, Science

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Loreen Leedy is the author and illustrator of over 40 picture books with math, science, language arts, and other curriculum content. Her books showcase information in a kid-friendly format, often with characters and entertaining stories.

Honors and awards for her books include: ALA Notable Book, Science Books and Films finalist, Reading Rainbow feature book, Chicago Library Best of the Best, many Scholastic Book Fair selections, Florida Book Award, Parent's Choice Award, many Junior Library Guild selections, and Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers Association.

Loreen has spoken at hundreds of schools and many conferences such as the International Reading Association, the American Library Association, the Mazza Summer Conference, and the UVU Engaged Reading Forum.

She lives in central Florida with her husband Andy, who is a scientist and a cat named Knickers who has an easily triggered purrometer. They love to travel, read, and watch movies.

Reviews

[Lisabette Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Edible Pyramid is an excellent transition book into the world of nutrition and healthy eating. The author uses fun characters to capture the attention of the audience. The lead character shows a variety of foods from each food group in colorful and distinct detail. The book explains the proper proportions for each food group.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book for years. It was one of those useful homeschool books I never thought much of but kept on hand for teaching healthy habits every few years to my oldest child. Now, my son who is 2 is obsessed. Who would have thought a food pyramid book would be so fascinating to a two year old boy. We've been reading it every day this week.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a boring non-fiction. This could be a good storytime book.

[Vo Khon · Rating 2 out of 5]

6 kind of food
Each kind the book shows lots of name of food to eat in that kind.
Good for study vocabulary.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our youngest brought this book home from her Elementary School library. I thought it was a new book, since it incorporated the new food pyramid guidelines from the USDA. I see here on Goodreads that it was originally published in 1994 (using the old guidelines) and was featured as a Reading Rainbow selection. I like that the author and publisher went to the trouble of revising the story to meet current standards. The book is informative, but not very entertaining. It's mainly a list of foods that fit into each food group, with one food group per page. There really isn't much of a story, but our girls enjoyed reading through it and pointing out the various foods. I would probably give it two stars, but our girls liked it and it is educational, so I went with three.

[Courtney Turpen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun and interactive learning book is great for teaching health to young children. It would be a great way to start a lesson and introduce a new concept on the food pyramid to kids. With the help of a feline friend, he opens up his own restaurant. He explains the importance of healthy eating and some fun facts and food that is good for your body. Not including that he talks about exercising and the benefits it provides your body. The illustrations in this book are fun and make learning the food pyramid fun!

[Hoang Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about a cat who opens a restaurant that introduces and serves all kinds of foods from the food pyramid. The book uses pictures to identify what the food groups contain. I think that teachers can use this book to introduce new words such as carbohydrates and dairy, since there are lots of pictures that students can make connections to. This is a great book for making text to self connections as well because students can talk about their own healthy food choices.

[Kalynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a great way to introduce, review, and expand on the food pyramid. Good for the classroom, a student project, a student interest book, and for the home. The setting is the opening of a restaurant for well-known animals. It reviews the food pyramid, and then, by Mr. Turtle asking "What do you serve from each food group?" it dives deeper into each one in an approachable way for its young target age group.

[Jade Thoemke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book when teaching about healthy eating. Though the story was not extremely entertaining, the pictures and content Leedy provided are more than enough to elaborate on and teach a great lesson on. The Edible Pyramid is a fantastic way to ground your students in healthy nutritional habits.

[Kelly Triplett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that helps explain the food pyramid; great for nutrition lessons. Nice illustrations that show the variety of foods that should be eaten. Amounts are discussed, as well as, the daily need for physical activity.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a restaurant that a couple people came to. The frogs said, "I wish they had flies for eating."

[Colleen]

Good for You! unit 7
Leveled Books - Beginner

[Miss Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but I thought the food pyramid graphic was going to be replaced with a plate? Could be wrong though.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely disjointed and not really a 'story', but a good primer on the food pyramid.

[Sarah May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do kids really need to know all the types of pasta available?!

[CFAITC]

This book teaches how to eat healthy, with fun illustrations.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cat shows fellow animals and reptiles the importance of eating based on the food pyramid.

Grades: K-5
Topic: Health, food pyramid, body, exercise

[Ashley Greenfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to use when teaching nutrition. It has good illustrations of the food pyramid. Kids will enjoy it.

[Kelsey Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhyming text and colorful pictures makes this educational book fun to read. The best part is the food thief on each page. He lassos, saws and even vacuums to steal food.

[Madelaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good picture book for kids to visualize the food pyramid. I like the illustrations and it is a good book for younger kids.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic information relevant for young children, but this book was published in 1994 and the presentation is outdated.