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Food For Thought
The five concepts every child must learn -- shapes, colors, numbers, ABCs, and opposites -- all in one outrageous book of vivacious veggies and fruits.
The authors of HOW ARE YOU PEELING? serve up a cornucopia of concepts in this big book for brilliant babies. Shapes: Is that a carrot, or a triangle? Colors: Watch for peppers in every range of the rainbow. Numbers: A zero-to-ten zoo! ABCs: A full produce section of sculptures acts out the alphabet. And Opposites: You've never seen Up/Down and Big/Little like this before! Every time we think Saxton Freymann can do no more with bok choy or broccoli, he astonishes us all over again. And this book is one-stop shopping for all parents' early-childhood education needs. Try some FOOD FOR THOUGHT!
The authors of HOW ARE YOU PEELING? serve up a cornucopia of concepts in this big book for brilliant babies. Shapes: Is that a carrot, or a triangle? Colors: Watch for peppers in every range of the rainbow. Numbers: A zero-to-ten zoo! ABCs: A full produce section of sculptures acts out the alphabet. And Opposites: You've never seen Up/Down and Big/Little like this before! Every time we think Saxton Freymann can do no more with bok choy or broccoli, he astonishes us all over again. And this book is one-stop shopping for all parents' early-childhood education needs. Try some FOOD FOR THOUGHT!
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
January 25, 2016
April 3, 2010
The youngest checked this out and I read it aloud last night. Not because the text was too challenging, but to give us all the opportunity to talk about how freaking cool the pictures are, and how they were made, and how much fun it'd be to make food sculptures like this.
Library copy
The youngest checked this out and I read it aloud last night. Not because the text was too challenging, but to give us all the opportunity to talk about how freaking cool the pictures are, and how they were made, and how much fun it'd be to make food sculptures like this.
Library copy
May 1, 2008
Colorful and playful and very creative. Children will enjoy learning their ABCs and 123s looking at the characters and animals made from fruits and vegetables. Parents will enjoy the wit of the authors and illustrators. I laughed out loud at the X-Ray page. How can you not smile when an orange is grinning at you?
From SLJ:
"Smiling oranges, mushroom "men," pepper "people," bananas that look like giraffes, eggplant penguins, and cauliflower sheep are just a few of the delightful food sculptures that grace the pages of this fun, educational offering. Freymann explores various concepts including shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites with the help of his signature vegetable and fruit characters. The concepts are well executed, and although the triangular carrot does not have perfectly straight lines, its shape is recognizable. Children will thoroughly enjoy the clever artwork and adorable characters. A visual treat."
From Kirkus:
"Viewers can't help but respond to the art's broad, infectious humor, and for members of the diapered set, big one- or two-word captions have been added to each page. Vegetarians who refuse to eat any "food with a face" are in deep trouble."
From SLJ:
"Smiling oranges, mushroom "men," pepper "people," bananas that look like giraffes, eggplant penguins, and cauliflower sheep are just a few of the delightful food sculptures that grace the pages of this fun, educational offering. Freymann explores various concepts including shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites with the help of his signature vegetable and fruit characters. The concepts are well executed, and although the triangular carrot does not have perfectly straight lines, its shape is recognizable. Children will thoroughly enjoy the clever artwork and adorable characters. A visual treat."
From Kirkus:
"Viewers can't help but respond to the art's broad, infectious humor, and for members of the diapered set, big one- or two-word captions have been added to each page. Vegetarians who refuse to eat any "food with a face" are in deep trouble."
September 2, 2010
This colorful and engaging book covers five basic topics for children (shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites) using fruits and vegetables to provide the visuals. Creativity just oozes off every page! I especially love the “Opposites” section. Whether it's mushroom people balancing on a broccoli and rhubarb teeter-totter to illustrate “up” vs. “down” or a huge melon cat staring down at a little radish dog, the images were intriguing, original, and humorous. Mr Freymann is particularly good at combining unlikely pairings to create a scene: a portobello mushroom top, pearl onions, broccoli, beans and artichokes became an owl and its nest for the ”O” page.
Yellow bell peppers, brussel sprouts and bok choy make up the seven fish in the “Numbers” section. The first and shortest section, “Shapes,” was the weakest and least inspiring – the images used to demonstrate certain shapes just didn't seem to register with my kids – but every subsequent section got better and better. With its bright colors, simple lines, and amazing attention to detail, this book will interest children of all ages.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
Yellow bell peppers, brussel sprouts and bok choy make up the seven fish in the “Numbers” section. The first and shortest section, “Shapes,” was the weakest and least inspiring – the images used to demonstrate certain shapes just didn't seem to register with my kids – but every subsequent section got better and better. With its bright colors, simple lines, and amazing attention to detail, this book will interest children of all ages.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
September 16, 2018
Food for Thought is an excellent picture book which demonstrates the basic concepts of shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites to the youngest of children. Through illustrations made of character-like fruits and vegetables, the author successfully was able to bring these simple ideas to life. This picture book is funny, creative, and very educational for students that are trying to grasp these concepts that they will begin to use in their day-to-day lives. On top of being academical beneficial, the illustrations make this picture book an entertaining read, whether a teacher is using it as a read aloud, a parent is showing it to their child, or a student is observing the book on their own. With the limited text and comical images that portray assorted foods with human-like features, I think this book would be most beneficial for students two and up. Younger children will be curious about the concepts presented in the book, whereas older students will find enjoyment in the humorous illustrations presented on every page. Overall, I would recommend every child giving this book a read and teachers to keep a copy in their classrooms!
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April 27, 2018Copyright-2005
Number of pages- 64 pages
Book format- Hardcover
Reading Level-Preschool-2nd grade
Genre-
Lit requirement- Counting
Summary-
This book uses all different fruits and vegetables to create an object that relays either a specific letter in the alphabet, color, shape, number, etc. They do so by creating animals or objects that have those concepts within them and then correlating them to the object and concept at hand.
Response-
I thought this was a very inclusive book that allowed for several different concept to be in one book in a fashion that is understandable. Personally, I got a little tired of going through and it being the same predictable idea that their way going to be some sort of fruit representing the idea to come. I would give this book a 2.7 because it is a great concept book and is great to help students understand several different concepts in one, but it is a little overwhelming by having so many different concepts in a simple book
Number of pages- 64 pages
Book format- Hardcover
Reading Level-Preschool-2nd grade
Genre-
Lit requirement- Counting
Summary-
This book uses all different fruits and vegetables to create an object that relays either a specific letter in the alphabet, color, shape, number, etc. They do so by creating animals or objects that have those concepts within them and then correlating them to the object and concept at hand.
Response-
I thought this was a very inclusive book that allowed for several different concept to be in one book in a fashion that is understandable. Personally, I got a little tired of going through and it being the same predictable idea that their way going to be some sort of fruit representing the idea to come. I would give this book a 2.7 because it is a great concept book and is great to help students understand several different concepts in one, but it is a little overwhelming by having so many different concepts in a simple book
January 16, 2020
Fun for kids. Fun for adults to see what can do with a few fruits and vegetables, creativity and a thoughtful attitude toward a book for children.
Shapes - Colors - Numbers - Letters - Opposites: all the things that get put into children's concept books, but with an interesting twist: everything is made up of fruits & vegetables or bits thereof. Black-eyed peas make great eyes. Stems can be noses or tails. Wrinkles or odd shapes can be facial expressions.
cucumbers, strawberries, broccoli (trees), cauliflower (sheep), bananas (giraffes, airplane, zebra),and lots more. I love the seven fish and the shouting orange.
Recommended for all ages. Adults can challenge themselves figuring out what some of the vegetables are.
Shapes - Colors - Numbers - Letters - Opposites: all the things that get put into children's concept books, but with an interesting twist: everything is made up of fruits & vegetables or bits thereof. Black-eyed peas make great eyes. Stems can be noses or tails. Wrinkles or odd shapes can be facial expressions.
cucumbers, strawberries, broccoli (trees), cauliflower (sheep), bananas (giraffes, airplane, zebra),and lots more. I love the seven fish and the shouting orange.
Recommended for all ages. Adults can challenge themselves figuring out what some of the vegetables are.
April 13, 2008
(SLP) Uses bright photographs of fruit and vegetables shaped like animals and simple labels to teach toddlers shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites.
(Claudia) The standard simple format works fine for the concepts, while the creatures – amazingly constructed of fruits, vegetables, and beans … are comically engaging and invite another layer of inquiry: what ARE those fruits and vegetables?! Toddler-PreS
(SLJ) “The concepts are well executed, and … [c]hildren will thoroughly enjoy the clever artwork and adorable characters.”
(Booklist) “… in this mix of concept and unabashed food play, the authors get the formula just right.”
(Claudia) The standard simple format works fine for the concepts, while the creatures – amazingly constructed of fruits, vegetables, and beans … are comically engaging and invite another layer of inquiry: what ARE those fruits and vegetables?! Toddler-PreS
(SLJ) “The concepts are well executed, and … [c]hildren will thoroughly enjoy the clever artwork and adorable characters.”
(Booklist) “… in this mix of concept and unabashed food play, the authors get the formula just right.”
July 25, 2011
Shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites are represented by colorful fruits and vegetables in creative designs. Each concept is illustrated by an anthropomorphic food and the concept word is written out-- such as an artichoke in the shape of a bird representing "1 one bird". The alphabet, numbers, and colors sections are clearly done and extremely helpful in introducing these basic concepts. The shapes section is a little confusing-- the cut carrot representing a triangle actually looks more like a cone.
April 9, 2018
Copyright- 2005 By Play With Your Food, LLC
Number of Pages- 61
Book Format- Hard Copy
Ready Level-PreK
Genre- Fiction
Lit requirement- Concept book 2
Summary- The book talks about the different types of concepts such as numbers, shouting and talking softly.
Response- This book is good book for younger children because it talks about the concepts children are learning as the get older.
Number of Pages- 61
Book Format- Hard Copy
Ready Level-PreK
Genre- Fiction
Lit requirement- Concept book 2
Summary- The book talks about the different types of concepts such as numbers, shouting and talking softly.
Response- This book is good book for younger children because it talks about the concepts children are learning as the get older.
May 30, 2009
Ok, this has to be the ultimate concept book! I love the food art books, but this is a step way up in complexity for this author, covering shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites. I love the sheep... and everything!
June 18, 2009
This is such a great book, like the others by this author. I love looking at the pictures and I also like that this book has alphabet, colors and counting. Some of the shapes take a real eye to see, but other than that is is great.
June 28, 2009
This book covered concepts, namely: shapes, color, numbers, letters, opposites. I love all the fruits and veggies with faces and expressions, esp the ones involving artichokes, cauliflower sheep, and "Shout" with the screaming orange and the kumquats. Recommended for ages 3-6.
September 17, 2011
This is an adorable book that one of the librarians at Brown Mackie College recommended to me. It's a concept book for kids. I brought it to my foodie lit class and my classmates and professor enjoyed it.
December 3, 2013
Incredibly creative! You will never look at veggies the same again. I wouldn't use this as a traditional read aloud, but it would be a great book to use in a whole group discussion.
Includes: shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites.
Includes: shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites.
March 30, 2019
Cute big book that children can flip through -- the "basic concepts" things sorta just gives it ideas. I don't know that kids are necessarily going to learn anything. But they do like looking at the food animals a lot!
March 22, 2007
Yeah this is the best picture book of all time. It's like being shrunk to ant size and having someone build a zoo out of your refrigerator.
April 29, 2008
My son could not get enough of this book. But since it was from the library, we had to return it. Cute pics and a fun idea. Check this one out!
June 6, 2008
Whenever I want to be delighted, I look at one of the many photos of food art in this book.
June 22, 2008
Thoroughly delightful book. The expressive produce is hilarious.
July 7, 2008
Anthropomorphized fruits and veggies to represent shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites. I'm always amazed at the way these guys' minds work. (Not to mention their carving knives.)
December 18, 2008
Most interesting photography/illustrations. Will get kids hungry and thinking about themselves!
January 8, 2009
So clever and fun. It makes us laugh each time we read it.
June 21, 2009
We got this from the library and I'm thinking of buying it. Connor LOVED the different shapes and colors, as well as the cute faces on all the fruit. Perfect for a toddler/preschooler.
October 14, 2009
I wish they had ditched the shapes section, since the shapes are very difficult to see for a toddler. However, I loved looking at the illustrations with my daughter.
January 26, 2010
Makes you look at fruits and vegetables in a new way while teaching a child to count, recognize colors and shapes.
June 22, 2010
want to make all the guys
September 8, 2010
Great pics! Very simple book but the pictures made it well worth the read!
March 7, 2017
All the illustrations are made with food! Perfect for a 3 to 5 year old who's learning colors, shapes or the alphabet!
March 3, 2011
Awesome book that celebrates the many sides of fruits and veggies. Fun for people of any age to look at, plus it promotes healthy eating by showing just how fun and colorful plant foods can be.
August 17, 2011
The chapter on shapes was kind of awkward, but everything else was great.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews