This engaging and colorful book is a wonderful way to introduce your children to the power of plant-forward eating.
Book Author: Melissa Halas, MA, RDN, CDE
What is this book about?
Healthy Eating for Families, The Ultimate Nutrition Guide for Kids, Parents, and Educators is an interactive nutrition guide that should be enjoyed by parents, caregivers, and educators alongside children. This book introduces fruits, vegetables, whole grains, herbs, and spices by way of the Super Crew, a pack of eight children who gain superpowers from eating colorful plants!
Tom-Tom gets his water-shaping abilities through red apples, tomatoes, and peppers; Andy has super-human strength from orange pumpkins, carrots, and persimmons while Jessie gets her shape-shifting powers from green avocado, spinach, and broccoli. Each Super Crew character is paired with a color, representative of a phytonutrient or, as they like to call them, ‘fight-o-nutrients’ – beneficial compounds found in plants. This book does a fantastic job of breaking this complex topic down into easily digestible bites that are fun, interactive, and thought-provoking.
In addition to teaching children about the health benefits of eating plants, Healthy Eating for Families is brimming with useful tips for introducing new foods and creating balanced meals. Don’t be surprised if you come across some foods your children are not familiar with, such as guavasteen, dragon fruit, or nopales! Learning about these unique fruits and vegetables through the Super Crew might spark your child’s curiosity and prompt them to be more adventurous eaters.
The Super Crew’s messages are intertwined with fun games throughout, such as a fruit and vegetable word scramble and an ‘I tried it’ bingo that rewards children for new healthy behaviors or for trying new foods and textures. Activities are paired with actionable goals, which gives the whole family the tools needed to put these new ideas into practice. Halas’ imaginative book explores the truly superpower-like nature of plants in a way that will be enjoyed by caregivers and children alike.
Tips for reading this book with your child:
- Explore one new character and color at a time, introducing your child slowly to the wonders of plants. Discover new recipes and dishes, including that color, before moving on to the next!
- Choose one activity per week so you can fully enjoy each one without rushing. Plus, you and your child can look forward to new activities each week!
- Be sure to check out the Just for Parents section in the end, which provides tips on simple things you can do to reinforce healthy eating.
- Taste and enjoy new nutrition adventures together with the Super Crew’s Breakfast Cookbook for Kids, 50 Tasty Recipes, + 100 Fun Nutrition Activities.
- Continue drawing inspiration from the Super Crew (literally and figuratively!) through Super Crew coloring pages and kids nutrition activities alongside the book.
- Check out the additional tools listed on the Healthy Eating for Families resource page.
