Food For Thought by Ken Robbins

Food For Thought by Ken Robbins
(Grades 2 and up)

Food For Thought is a new addition to our library, just in time for Thanksgiving! Celebrated photographer and author Ken Robbins has captured beautiful images of many of the foods we love best: apples, oranges, corn, bananas, potatoes and many more. We eat many of these foods every day but few of us know why they are such staples in our diet. Robbins includes a brief history of these beloved fruits and vegetables and an overview of how they grow, what they are called in other languages and a variety of uses. The humble potato, for instance, has its origin in Peru and is called pommes de terre in French (fruit of the earth).

Robbins shares a sobering fact, "Just a few generations ago, the vast majority of Americans lived or worked on a farm. Now it's just 2 percent of us who do. As a result, most of us know less and less about where our food comes from; in many cases, we don't even really know what it looks like in its natural state."

Perhaps we could take a moment with the children in our lives this November to find out more about our favorite Thanksgiving foods. Food for Thought would be great dinner conversation to accompany a big bowl of mashed potatoes! At my house, we were fascinated to learn that the word orange has no rhyme! I won't tell you how long we tried to find one.

Visit www.newberglibrary.org to find this and other materials at our library.

Reviewed by Amanda L., Children's Staff