For Picky Eaters (3-6 years old)

Young children are often picky eaters. A fun way for young children to learn about food, healthy eating and trying new food is through books. Try reading these selected titles to your child and then talking about the people in the stories to make it easier for your child to adopt healthy eating habits.

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food
Author: Stan Berenstain
Publisher: New York: Random House, c1985
Call No.: JP BER
Summary: The cubs like to eat junk food. Snack time is anytime – when watching TV, at the movies, at the mall and the cubs even raid the pantry at home. How can Mama Bear make them stop eating food that is bad for their health?

D.W., the Picky Eater
Author: Marc Tolon Brown
Publisher: Boston: Little Brown, c1995
Call No.: JP BRO
Summary: D.W. is a picky eater. She does not eat vegetables, liver and hates spinach with a vengeance. D.W. uses all sorts of mischievous ways to avoid the foods she does not like. Will D.W. ever become an adventurous eater and try something new?

I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato
Author: Lauren Child
Publisher: London: Orchard Books, 2000
Call No.: JP CHI –[BA]
Summary: Lola is a very fussy eater. She does not eat carrots, peas, potatoes, mushrooms or spaghetti – and the list goes on. Lola claims "And I absolutely will not ever never eat a tomato." When Lola's brother, Charlie, is given the task of feeding dinner to his fussy younger sister, he devises a clever way of cajoling Lola into eating foods that she insists she does not eat.

The Monster Who Ate My Peas
Author: Danny Schnitzlein
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga.: Peachtree Publishers, 2001
Call No.: JP SCH
Summary: The boy will do anything to avoid eating peas. Along comes a food monster that agrees to eat all the peas if the boy gives him his soccer ball. And every time peas appear on the boy's plate, the monster's demands escalate. Will the boy lose his most prized possession or will he conquer his dislike for peas?

Author: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: New York: Beginner Books; distributed by Random House, c1960
Call No.: JP SEU
Summary: Sam-I-am tries to get an unidentified character to eat green eggs and ham. The character refuses to taste the dish, insisting that he will not like it. When he finally gives in, he realizes that he does like green eggs and ham! This timeless favourite makes an important point about food – you will never know if you like a new food unless you try it.

Smelly Peter: The Great Pea Eater
Author: Steve Smallman
Publisher: London: Little Tiger, 2008
Call No.: JP SMA
Summary: Young Peter Pod eats nothing but peas. He eats peas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But this turns Peter as green as a pea and he can't stop tooting! The peas also make him smelly and he is teased terribly. How will his problem be solved?

Bread and Jam for Frances
Author: Russell Hoban
Publisher: New York: HarperCollins, 2008
Call No.: JP HOB
Summary: Frances is a picky eater who only wants to eat bread and jam. She refuses to try anything new. To teach her a lesson, Frances' mom gives her only bread and jam for every meal. Frances is happy at first, but then grows sick of eating the same food. Soon she wants to eat what everyone else is eating, which is a well-rounded meal.

Eat Your Peas, Ivy Louise!
Author: Leo Landry
Publisher: Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005
Call No.: JP LAN
Summary: "Eat your peas, Ivy Louise," say Mama and Papa during dinnertime. Ivy Louise, sitting in her high chair, plays with her food instead and imagines her peas acting out all kinds of wild circus scenarios. A perfect book for every parent who has ever tried to get a toddler to eat.

Little Pea
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, c2005
Call No.: JP ROS
Summary: Candy. This is what you have to have for dinner every night when you are a pea, and Little Pea hates it. He struggles through his dinner of candies so that he can have his favourite dessert – spinach. Children will be amused by the funny twist in this simple story.