Storytime ♥ Cooking With Children

Here's another wonderful post by guest blogger Heidi Rosenberg

I have always been interested in giving my family the best healthiest food possible. I strongly belief in making as much as my own food as possible. I want to avoid as many processed foods as I can especially ingredients inside processed foods such as high fructose corn syrup. I believe introducing them to cooking makes them more interested in foods that perhaps they would normally turn their noses up to. My daughter is 4 now and I try to encourage her to help me cook when ever possible. Cooking with a young child does take more time and patience. It almost always involves extra cleanup, especially in our case when flour in involved. Healthy eating means eating more whole grains, fruit and vegetables and beans. If meat is eaten try and eat the leaner types. With this is mind this month I have decided to review what Barefoot Books has in the line of healthy food books.

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass

The message in this book is simple yet brilliant. Some people (and indeed Dragons) like meat where as others prefer to eat vegetables. It's not trying to make out that one way of eating is better than another it justs a great way of explaining that people eat different things. As always with Barefoot Books the art is beautiful, just as on the cover its colorful and vivid throughout the book.

This book will also teach children to never give up on their own beliefs. I have read the book countless times. There is quite a lot of text, so I would recommend it as a book to read to younger children and for older children to read to themselves. Barefoot recommends this book for 4-10 years old. This is a great book to give to a meat eating child with a vegetarian friend or vice-versa. Its available in paper back $7.99 or hard back.

New this season is Kid's Kitchen to accompany Herb. The cards have 40 fun and healthy recipes to make and share. What a great deck of cards to help learn about cooking. They are based around the five main food groups. All the recipes are vegetarian. The cards are sturdy and can be wiped clean. Each card is organized by type of dish and contains step by step directions and nutritional information. The package also includes kitchen safety information. The card deck is recommended for ages 8 up and would be great to get the kids helping more in the kitchen.

Did you know that we also sell music CD's? Picnic Playground CD is a wonderful collection of delicious songs.It also includes a child-friendly overview of the foods mentioned in the songs, as well as two recipes showing how to “Eat Like A Rainbow”. The CD contains 12 multilingual songs all aimed to help teach the child to eat healthy. Other books with food include Gigantic Turnip, Mama Panya's Pancakes, Earth Tales, Little Red Hen (whole wheat bread recipe in the back).

For more information please visit my website. http://heidirosenberg.barefootbooks.com/ or email me to be included in my newsletters. barefootbooksus@yahoo.com

Thank you Heidi!! Great post...and Heidi has also offered a
SPECIAL 20% DISCOUNT FOR MY READERS!!!
Just enter TWENTY (all caps) at check out! Offer good until August 31.