reviewed - Katrina

Beginning with concise discussions of each of the food groups, along with the newly redesigned food pyramid, Ed Miller looks at all aspects of health and nutrition in this accessible and informative book. Fun facts about different foods are included throughout to keep the reading upbeat and clear distinctions are made between healthy and not-so-healthy meal choices. Readers will learn about nutrients, how to read foods labels and what it means to count calories.

Not a read-aloud book

This is a non-fiction book about all of the ways that kids can stay healthy and fit. There are many different chapters to the book that include nutrition, personal hygiene, mental health, and physical activity. This book would be a great mentor text when having kids learn about any of these topics or even when they are doing research on a related topic.

I really like this book because it explains the concepts of eating and being healthy in a fun and colorful way. You follow the journey of this monster who is trying to eat healthy and on his journey through the grocery store we see all the foods that are good for you with mentions of food that is not so good for you. For example, in the "whole grain group," they talk about whole grain bread, cereal, oatmeal, brown rice and etc. There are facts about each of these things like for brown rice it says, "rice is grown on every continent except Antarctica, where it is too cold." I think these facts add an extra element to the book because it is not just saying what foods are healthy, you are actually getting to know where the food comes from and facts about it as well. I also like how they list the "not-so-healthy" foods at somepoint on the page. For example, on the "meat and bean group" page, they list "too-fatty meats: meat with fat you can see, hot dog, sausage, bologna, and bacon." I like how they did this because it is easy for children to see what is good for them and what they should probably cut back on. The illustrations are also very vivid and colorful, which is something I also love. They put emphasis on the good foods and don't show much of the "bad foods."

The big idea of this book is to be healthy. This book not only goes into what to eat and what not to eat, but it also talks about what to do to be active, "team sports, biking, dancing, walking, swimming," good sleep habits, "get 10-11 hours of sleep, try to go to bed at the same time every night, avoid snacking right before bed," and "say no to bad health: smoking, alcohol & drugs," where they talk about the concept of peer pressure and what it can do to you. This book covers a lot of boundaries but the main idea of it all is to be healthy and make good decisions. ( )