Archimedes Notebook: food

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, November 22, 2024

What's for Dinner?

Next week is Thanksgiving, and that’s got me thinking about food! Turns out I’m not the only one thinking about food …and it also turns out that I am omnivorous! Here’s a pair of books that explore animals and their eating habits.

themes: animals, food chains, nonfiction

This is Not My Lunchbox

by Jennifer Dupuis; illus. by Carol Schwartz

32 pages; ages 4-8

Tilbury House Publishers, 2024

The book opens with a child camping in the forest. The tent is up, and he’s searching in his backpack for something.

Time to eat. Here is my red lunch box. What have you packed for me today?

Carpenter ants? Beetles? Spiders? Not MY lunch! But it’s the perfect lunch for a downy woodpecker. In each spread, the boy opens a lunchbox to discover all kinds of things that he Absolutely, Positively Would NOT eat! But the animals in the forest – from mouse to mantid to moose – would, because that’s what they normally eat. Finally, FINALLY!, he opens a lunchbox with yummy people food.

What I like about this book: I love the way this book introduces animals and their diets. I love that each lunchbox is a different color. And I really love that a diversity of animals are invited to the table, from bugs to birds, foxes and frogs. Back matter challenges kids to match pictures of the animals with their eating habits: herbivore, carnivore, omnivore.

Menus for Meerkats and Other Hungry Animals

by Ben Hoare; illus by Hui Skipp

48 pages; ages 6-10

‎Kane Miller, 2024

Every animal has to eat … But what is food, exactly?

The first page introduces readers to the importance of food: animals need to eat to keep their bodies working, to grow, to look after their young. There’s a quick explanation of what herbivores are, and carnivores, and omnivores – and even a brief mention that some animals are Very Fussy eaters! And then an invitation to see what’s on the menu for a ten wild creatures.

What I like about this book: I like how the book is structured, introducing each animal with a menu page. Each menu comes with a note; for meerkats it includes a warning that some of their food fights back. The menu is arranged with Main Course on the left page (insects, grubs, scorpions, spiders) and Sides and Drinks on the right. There’s also a map showing where the animal lives. The spread following the menu tells more about the animal and its place in the food web: what it eats – and what eats them! In addition to meerkats, there are macaws, grizzly bears, white sharks, koalas, dung beetles, orangutans, Indian cobras, blue whales, and lions. A table of contents, glossary, and index help make this a useful reference book.

Beyond the Books:

What’s your favorite animal? It could be a bird, mammal, insect, amphibian, reptile, or fish. Make a list of all the things it eats. Draw a menu or a lunchbox for that animal and put in its favorite foods.

How does your favorite animal fit into the food web? Do any animals eat it? Make a chart or drawing to show what you learn.

What's in YOUR lunchbox? If you’re like me, you might be thinking about Thanksgiving right now… draw a menu for your feast. Or, draw a lunchbox showing what you usually eat for lunch.

Ask an adult to help you make something that you like to eat. Maybe it’s a cheese and pickle sandwich, or maybe it’s pancakes.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Friday, April 5, 2024

A Farm is a Farm...

Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm

by Lindsay H. Metcalf; illus by Xin Li

32 pages; ages 5-9

Astra Young Readers, 2024

theme: farming, comparison, rhyme

Outdoors, indoors, big or bitty, through the seasons, country, city … Farms are farms no matter where. What’s the recipe they share?

This fun-to-read, rhyming book follows two farm kids through the seasons. One lives on an outdoor farm, where “field meets sky.” One works with their parents on the indoors farm, where trays are stacked on shelves that reach floor to ceiling. Where outdoor crops get sun and rain, indoor crops get mist and artificial light.

What I like about this book: I like the way pen-pal letters bookend the story. And I really like the compare-and-contrast structure of the book. Readers are introduced to two very different ways of growing fresh vegetables. And there’s back matter! Lindsay Metcalf talks about why farms are changing and shares more information about planting, growing, and harvesting on the two types of farms. There are also links to activities, such as how to grow your own hydroponic crop in a bottle.

Xin Li gallery

Being a gardener, I knew I had to ask Lindsay a couple or three questions.

Me: How did the idea of writing about indoor gardens come to you?

Lindsay: A video came to my attention about AeroFarms, a vertical, aeroponic farm in a large New Jersey warehouse. I immediately wanted to write about them in some capacity and made a note in my ideas file. Then, when Vivian Kirkfield’s 50 Precious Words contest came up that spring, I decided my entry would compare and contrast that vertical farm outdoor family farm I’d grown up on in north-central Kansas. My dad and brothers still raise corn, soybeans, milo, and sometimes wheat.

Me: I love the compare/contrast structure - and the seasonal arc. Can you talk about how you came to that structure?

Lindsay: The compare/contrast element was present from the very first draft. At that time, I was calling the two farms “old farm” and “new farm,” but I decided that language pitted them against each other, when really, I wanted to showcase the innovation and adaptation in both types of farms. The seasonal structure came after several drafts. I realized I needed an arc that tied both farms together. The seasons were a natural fit.

Me: Do you grow veggies? If so, do you have an outdoor garden or an indoor garden?

Lindsay: I do, although not particularly well. We have a couple of small outdoor plots here at home that I’ve been building up with compost for the last few years. Last year we grew several varieties of tomatoes, cilantro, basil, okra, and cantaloupe. My dad keeps a large garden at his farm, usually with potatoes, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, bush beans, and several other things, including a perennial failed stand of carrots. Sometimes I help with that garden as well. I also have a tiny indoor garden that I am planning to set up in the next week or so.

Thank you, Lindsay. Now let’s go do some activities that take us…

Beyond the Books:

Visit a farm. If you don’t live near farms, contact your local cooperative extension office and ask where you could visit a farm. You might find a berry farm or a dairy farm, a veggie farm or a tree farm… or maybe an indoor farm!

Grow your own carrots in recycled water bottles. Cut the bottles off at the shoulder and poke holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill with potting soil. Plant a few seeds – you’ll thin to one strong seedling eventually. Put the carrot water-bottle-planters in the sun on your porch or balcony and make sure they have water. Add a bit of compost every week or so. Carrots usually take 50-60 days to mature. I check to see how big their shoulders are.

Support your local farmers! Visit farm markets and buy some vegetables to make a fresh salad or lunch snacks.

Lindsay is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Friday, November 24, 2023

Food, Glorious Food!

Today I offer a banquet of books to feast your eyes on while contemplating leftovers… The Themes are: food, animals, cooking

The Sun Shines on the Jungle
by Michael Slack
board book; ages 3-5
‎Candlewick, 2022

The sun shines on the jungle.
Plants grow, reaching for the sun.

And then the munching begins. Beetles eat the leaves. Spiders eat the beetles. And before you know it you’ve got a full-fledged food chain on your hands!

What I like about this book: It is deceptively simple. Simple text with lovely illustrations showing one thing eating another. It’s not until you’re four spreads in that you begin to think: Hey! That animal ate the one I just saw on the previous page! But wait – there’s more.

Lifting the flaps, we can see inside the predators’ tummies. What a fun way to begin a discussion about who eats whom – perfect reading before any meal.

My kids always enjoyed cooking up things in the kitchen, whether it was messing around with pizza dough, tossing chips into cookie dough, or making their very first sandwich. We didn’t have a kid cookbook, so our culinary adventures were more … math and science labs (for want of a better description).

Now here’s a visual guide to cooking for kids who just might want to make their own snacks!

Look and Cook Snacks: A First Book of Recipes in Pictures
by Valorie Fisher
48 pages; ages 4-7
‎Astra Young Readers, 2023

The idea behind this book: illustrate recipes in a step-by-step fashion so kids who can’t yet read (and visual learners) can take some ownership of their kitchen adventure. And with recipes like these, who wouldn’t want to? Lime Fizz, pickled peanut, avocado smashup (something I made last night with no help, btw), easy-peasy pickles, and yummus – which is like avocado smashup but with chickpeas. And a lemon instead of a lime.

What I like about this book: It’s fun and kid-friendly, contains lots of math stuff and enough mashing and smashing to entertain anyone – but an adult needs to be nearby to help with the sharp stuff, the hot stuff, and the grindy stuff (blender). Also, there is Front Matter. A how-to-use-this-book page introduces symbols that indicate servings, time needed for the recipe (or a step) and a hand in a red circle to indicate “get help from a grown-up.” There’s a visual guide to tools used for measuring, mixing, cooking, and a wonderful guide on how to tell whether your muffins are done using the toothpick test. At the end is a page that shows things you can substitute – heck! I can think of a few adults who could use this book.

Since we’re talking about food and food chains, I could not resist this one!

Poop for Breakfast: Why Some Animals Eat It
by Sara Levine; illus. by Florence Weiser
32 pages; ages 5-10
Millbrook Press, 2023

What’s for breakfast? Poop’s for breakfast!

Really? EWWWWWWW!

Sounds disgusting, sure – but some animals eat poop. There’s even a name for this: coprophagy. And they do it for a number of surprisingly good reasons, says Sara Levine. For butterflies, it can help make their eggs stronger. To get grass- (and leaf and bark)-digesting bacteria into their guts, baby elephants eat droppings from their mom and other members of the herd. Some animals need food to travel through their digestive system twice so they … well, you get the picture.

What I like about this book: Each spread gives an example, and then in a sidebar provides a detailed explanation of how coprophagy is an adaptation for that animal. Final spreads show why it isn’t for humans. The language is easy to read, humorous in places, and never gets boring. Plus there is back matter that includes a visual field guide of scat and invites readers to be “poop detectives.” There's also a tongue-in-cheek textbox listing synonyms for poop. Not on the list: coprolite.

Beyond the Books:

Did you eat turkey on Thanksgiving? If it was a wild turkey it might have eaten acorns and berries, insects and snails – even a frog! And then you ate it. Can you draw a food chain for a wild turkey that ends up in your tummy?

Make something you like to eat. Maybe it’s a sandwich or pancakes, or maybe you love chocolate chip cookies. Whatever it is, help gather ingredients, measure things, mix … and definitely taste-test. Sometimes you have to test more than one (especially with cookies, right?).

You have probably seen signs of animals in your neighborhood: round pellets in the grass, maybe berry-laden scat near your garden. Wouldn’t it be great to know who was there? Here are a couple books that were written for young nature detectives: Tracks, Scats and Signs (Take Along Guides) by Leslie Dendy and Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Pocket Guide by my friend, Martha Mitchell (illustrator) and Lynn Levine.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website.Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Friday, December 2, 2022

Crunch! Slurp! Yummy Bugs!

Bugs for Breakfast: How Eating Insects Could Help Save the Planet

by Mary Boone

120 pages; ages 9 and up

Chicago Review Press, 2021

Mary Boone got interested in breakfasting on bugs back in 2013, when the United Nations issued its report about using insect protein to feed the world’s growing population. Then, while traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia, she had the opportunity to snack on fried grasshoppers at a local market. She was hooked, and wanted to learn more… and just about a year ago her book Bugs for Breakfast hit bookstore shelves. Somehow, my copy burrowed down into the hidden depths of my book basket…

Here's what I like about this book:

1. Mary introduces the topic of entomophagy (eating insects) in a way that makes sense for kids who might be interested in trying out some cricket snacks – and for those who want to know why moving from conventional animal protein to insect protein makes environmental sense. She writes in a conversational way, tossing in the occasional joke (watch out for cricket legs caught in your teeth!) and points out that many people around the world incorporate insects – from mopane worms to cicadas to beetles – into their daily meals.

2. One chapter compares insect farming to conventional livestock farming. For example, the amount of land (space) and time required to produce 490 pounds of beef could be used to produce 1.3 million pounds of edible insect protein. Cattle require a lot more water to convert grass to meat than crickets do – and cows produce tons more methane than insects. Lest you wonder, yes, insects fart.

3. You’ll find nutritional information and recipes, along with the assurance that you’re already eating bugs. Yep, the USDA allows a certain amount of “bug parts” in food. Not only that, some foods rely on insect by-products – like the bug shellac used to make shiny chocolate coatings on certain candies.

4. There’s a whole chapter devoted to answering the question of whether incorporating insects into your diet can help save the world. The short answer: yes. And there’s a hands-on guide for how to raise your own crickets.

I had One Question for Mary ~

Me: How have you incorporated entomophagy into your diet? And do you think it has made a difference in your corner of the world?

Mary: I'm a big fan of cricket powder -- much more so than whole insects. I use it in smoothies and I sub it for some of the flour when I make cookies or banana bread. Do I use it all the time? No. It's expensive. Right now, most cricket farms are really small and labor intensive. When we get to a point where farms can scale up and they're able to automate some of the production, I think prices will come down and cricket protein will become more appealing to more people. Is what I'm doing making a difference? I think so. Every time I share a cricket-powder cookie or chips or bread with someone, I like to think I'm getting them to consider their own diets and opening their eyes to the whole issue of farming and sustainability. It's baby steps, but that's how most movements begin.

Mary Boone has written more than 60 nonfiction books for young readers. You can find out more about her, and download a teacher’s guide, at her website

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Before you toss that banana peel....

Bananas are good for you. They are chock-full of tryptophan, vitamin A, potassium, and iron. Even their peels are nutritious. Earlier this month a press release from the American Chemical Society stated that banana peels are “… replacing pork in "pulled peel" sandwiches and getting fried up into "bacon." And now, researchers reporting in ACS Food Science & Technology show that incorporating banana peel flour into sugar cookie batter makes the treats more healthful.”

Wikimedia/ Anitamahotra

I eat a lot of bananas, and I know the peels had nutrients – that’s why I toss them into my compost bin. But no more! Apparently banana peels are packed with anti-oxidents: polyphenols, carotenoids, and others that can help fight cancer-causing free radicals in your body. Banana peels are also a good source of vitamins B6 and B12, as well as magnesium, potassium, protein and, of course, fiber. Lots of fiber.

Banana peel "bacon" requires too many seasonings, but you can toss banana peels into your next smoothie, mix up a banana peel chutney, or make some banana peel curry. I’m thinking this faux pulled “pork” recipe might go well in a taco.

You don’t have to eat banana peels to reuse them. They are good for moisturizing skin and soothing mosquito bites (just rub the inside of the peel over the bite). And some people rub them over their leather shoes for a quick shine. Warning: they do nothing for muddy sneakers.

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