How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food

by Chris Butterworth, Lucia Gaggiotti (Illustrator)

Overview

Fresh retro artwork lures little readers on a tasty trip to farms, dairies, and more. Yum!

The best part of a young child’s day is often opening a lunchbox and diving in. But how did all that delicious food get there? Who made the bread for the sandwich? What about the cheese inside? Who plucked the fruit? And where did the chocolate in that cookie get its start? From planting wheat to mixing flour into dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods. Healthy tips and a peek at basic food groups complete the menu.
Back matter includes an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763650056
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	01/25/2011
Series:	Exploring the Everyday Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,142,635
Product dimensions:	8.75(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Christine Butterworth is the author of Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea, winner of a John Muir prize for natural history writing. The author of many nonfiction books for children, she lives in Cornwall, England.

Lucia Gaggiotti is a graphic designer, packager, and illustrator whose images of food have been used by many food companies in London, including Carluccios and Pizza Express. She lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

With reader-directed prose and cheerfully retro artwork, Butterworth and Gaggiotti use a balanced meal—sandwich, fruit, veggies, juice box, and cookie—to explain how foodstuffs make it from farms, dairies, and factories into kids' lunches. It's clear that the book's goal is encouraging kids to truly think about their food: how it's made and where it comes from, yes, but also how it tastes ("Bite into your cheese—it's creamy and smooth, but tasty, too—and TINGLY on your tongue!") and what it does for their bodies. If it feels a tad optimistic given the modern dominance of frozen, fast, and processed food, it's an accessible primer for families looking to foster healthy habits. Ages 5–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Reader-directed prose and cheerfully retro artwork...an accessible primer for families looking to foster healthy habits
—Publisher's Weekly

Breezily presenting highlights without getting mired in details...Mouth-watering descriptions could almost stand alone...Retro cartoon illustrations are equally informative and appetite-whetting
—Horn Book

Children who haven't given the subject further thought will find this sunny, high-energy account of food production and distribution an appetizing eye-opener.
—Booklist

A great springboard to units on food and nutrition.
—School Library Journal

Results of reading this book include a greater understanding of the farm-to-table methodology as well as hunger pangs.
—Library Media Connection

A great book that unpeels a whole new world of understanding for kids who want to know more about their food. The book provides kids step-by-step illustrations about how farmers and others do their part to get food from the farm to their lunchboxes.
—Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture

Using kitschy illustrations, this book traces how carrots, cookies, and other kid-fave fare travels from the farm to school.
—Parents

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 2—Focusing on the contents of one child's lunchbox, Butterworth describes where the bread, cheese, tomatoes, apple juice, carrots, chocolate chips, and a clementine come from and how they get to local stores. The author explains how these products are grown and manufactured, and attention is paid to the many workers involved in the process. The production of each item is described on a spread, with a solid black font and accompanying illustrations arranged in flow-chart style. The sometimes-wordy text and detailed artwork work well together to identify the processing steps. Concluding comments note the importance of drinking water, eating breakfast, exercising, and consuming both vegetables and fruits. The energetic mixed-media artwork, populated with smiling workers, perks up the writing. Small details tucked within the illustrations would be best seen when reading the book one-on-one. Patterned endpapers showcase a repetitive selection of foods. A great springboard to units on food and nutrition.—Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH

School Library Journal