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Those foods you think are so ordinary have interesting origins. This is the world in your lunch box….
The World in your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods by Claire Eamer, illustrated by Sa Boothroyd. Annick Press, 2012. 128 pages.
- Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12
- Recommended For: Ages 8-12
Ever wondered where tomatoes originated? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Italy. What about ice cream? Watermelon? Vanilla? Pita bread?
The World in Your Lunch Box is a delightful exploration of some of the foods your student might have in his or her school lunch in a given week. A teacher assigns his students the following: keep a diary of your lunch for a week and look up information about each of the parts of your lunch. Brief history, scientific information, and weird facts are presented about foods as diverse as those mentioned above, plus parts of a pizza, chocolate, corn, …. Funny little drawings punctuate the text including little jokes (i.e. Pita bread says to regular bread, “Bread, you’ll never understand, you were just raised differently.” Bread responds, “Pita, you’re full of hot air.” yuk yuk yuk)
Middle school students will enjoy this little nonfiction gem–and may come home requesting some new foods! I appreciated the way certain periods of history (i.e. colonization, spice trade, etc.) and the balance between organic and conventionally grown produce was handled. Information was given, but no judgment passed. The point of this book is not to convert anyone to a particular perspective, but to open a kid’s eyes to the interesting background of a seemingly ordinary school lunch. There is a nice bibliography and thorough index in the back as well; books recommended for kids definitely come from the more politically correct persuasions, but they seem fairly well rounded.
I think a nice touch would be the addition of some kid-friendly recipes (for instance, there’s a suggestion to make your own pizza…but no recipe! The making of mayonnaise is discussed–another potential recipe to try would be great there).
Recommended for upper elementary and up (reading level is not difficult, but kids will get more out of this book if they have a working knowledge of history; references are made to things such as “when the Spanish conquered the …” without any further elaboration).
Considerations: None remembered (this review was written several years ago, but I didn’t note any at the time).
Bottom Line: A fun book to look for in your local library (or, to consider adding to your school library if you’re in a position to make those decisions!).
Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader
- Book Review: What the World Eats is a perfect companion read to this.
- Book Review: Chinese Menu is a fun book for this same age group that looks at folklore and inspiration for Chinese restaurant favorites.
- Booklist Resource: We have a list for that! Cookbooks for Kids and Teens
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