Elise from A Path Made Straight started a great thing on her blog--Children's Book Monday, a place to share great children's literature each Monday.  This week she is even hosting a contest, so check her blog out!  I thought I would participate this week, and post a few favorite books of my own:                                                                                                                                         

If your kids are picky eaters, try reading a book to encourage better eating habits at the dinner table.  You’ll be amazed how using book characters as examples will spark new interest in trying food.

When I starting hearing “I don’t like this” from my own children too often at dinner, I read them the classic book--Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess.                                                                      Sam is trying to convince his friend to eat green eggs and ham.  With the great ryhming poetry of Dr. Suess, Sam asks him if he'll eat them in the most random places--in a box, with a fox, on a train, or in the rain, etc.  He finally gets right down to the problem and asks his friend directly.  When my children continue to complain over meals, I can just pull out a few lines that Sam says:

Try them!  Try them!

And you may.

Try them and you may, I say…

And amazingly enough, they actually give the food a try and usually agree with Sam:

And I will eat them in a house.

And I will eat them with a  mouse.

And I will eat them here or there.

Say!   I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I do so like

green eggs and ham!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Sam-I am!      

Fun project:  Add green food coloring to real eggs and ham and try them after you read the book.           

Another favorite is by Russell Loban who writes a whole series of books with his wife Lillian as illustrator.  They are based on the character Frances.  She is a little badger who learns valuable lessons about going to bed--- Bedtime for Frances, having a new sibling—Baby Sister for Frances, and friendship—A Bargain for Frances, among others. 

Today we read Bread and Jam for Frances.   I have vivid memories of reading this book on tape  in my 2^nd grade class and wanted to share it with my own children.

In Bread and Jam for Frances, Frances isn’t too keen on eating soft-boiled eggs for breakfast and decides to have her favorite—bread and jam.  Soon she’s eating it for lunch, snack, and dinner and singing about it as she skips rope throughout her day:

Jam in the morning, jam at noon,

Bread and jam by the light of the moon.

Jam…is…very…nice.

If you read this with your children, they’ll soon catch onto the message that eating their favorite foods, like bread and jam, is nice, but trying new foods is even better!

Fun project:  After reading the book, make homemade jam and/or bread.  Eat the bread and jam for a meal or snack.         

Happy Reading and Eating!