I’m a big fan of Rodale.  The company has been around for a long time, printing books about organic gardening, natural lifestyle, and healthy choices.  They also have a website selling natural/healthy products.  I did not realize until now that they have a children’s publishing arm.  Fresh from that children’s department come these two books, Mrs. Peanuckle’s Fruit Alphabet and Mrs. Peanuckle’s Vegetable Alphabet.  (I’m not sure how I ended up with no picture of the veggie book’s cover.)

There are a lot of things to love about these books.  Perhaps one of the most obvious is the focus.  Most of us would like for our children to eat more fruits and vegetables, and that starts with being open to the adventure of trying new things.  These books cover a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (literally spanning from A to Z!) in a fun way, bringing even unusual varieties more into the realm of familiar.

Of course help practicing the alphabet is a benefit, as well.

The graphics are bright and fun.  Each fruit or vegetable is handled a little differently, depending on how much space it takes up, what there is to say about it, etc., but there’s a good bit of learning information snuck in here, like the different types of kale.

The veggie book even includes a couple of “wild” foods most people would consider weeds, but nature lovers know are good for foraging.  That’s helpful for opening up conversations with our children both about foraging and about not just eating any old plant they find out and about.

If you look closely, the graphics provide lots of opportunity for practicing shapes, as well.  And I love that these are board books because those hold up better to my kids than books with regular paper pages.

Perhaps, like me, you’re wondering what the author did with the “hard letters.”  Well, first of all, there are fewer of those than you might think.  Three in the vegetable book (Q, U, and X, in case you were wondering) and two in the fruit book (I and Z).  Mostly, they use related ideas (like vegetables growing Underground), but I appreciate the X for veggies:

So, to recap (and expand a little), these two little books can be used to teach or introduce children to: fruits & vegetables, nutrition, foraging & herbalism, botany, the alphabet, colors, shapes, geography, big & small, tastes (sour, sweet, etc.), similarities & differences.

I’d say these are a valuable addition to the bookshelf!