Skip to main content

What the World Eats written by Faith D'Aluisio photographed by Peter Menzel



Do you know what a family in Australia eats every day? What about Mali? Or Kuwait? Or China? What do their kitchens look like? Who lives in their home and eats all of this food? What the World Eats is a fascinating book that will answer all of these questions, and many more. The book starts with a photo of an Australian family in their kitchen surrounded by everything they would eat in a typical week. The following page lists all the items in categories and gives an approximate cost in US dollars. There are also maps and little fact boxes about the country. The next 3-4 pages give the family's story and some more pictures of them and their interactions with food. If you are lucky, there will even be a recipe for a family favorite. {Dong Family's Pigskin Jelly is the one I want to try}. The same basic format is followed for 25 families from different economic classes in scattered locations across the globe.
When I checked out this book I had expected to just glance through the photos and maybe skim a few paragraphs of text. However, my attention was grabbed by the first family's photograph and subsequent story. I stayed up into the wee hours of the night just to read this book. I was amazed how many familiar products can be found on kitchen tables around the world. Heinz ketchup and Kellogg's Cornflakes are everywhere, but Coca-Cola is by far the international winner. In fact, it surprised me to find out that the US is not the world leader for per-person consumption of Coca-Cola. You will have to read the book to find out who is.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

De la hora del cuento: Semana 8 de verano

  Cuentos QuizĆ”s algo hermoso Escrito por F. Isabel Campoy y Theresa Howell Ilustrado por Rafael López Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Libro ilustrado. "Viendo lo que Mira y sus vecinos descubren, ¡mĆ”s de lo que nunca pudo imaginarse! Basado en una historia real, "QuizĆ”s algo hermoso" nos revela cómo el arte puede inspirar la transformación -- y cómo incluso la mĆ”s pequeƱa artista puede llegar a conseguir algo grande. ¡Toma un pincel y Ćŗnete a la celebración!" --Editor Cuentitos ¿Dónde estĆ”s, Cerdito? Por Margarita Del Mazo y Laure du Fay Madrid, Spain: NubeOcho, 2021. PequeƱo libro ilustrado. "¿Alguien ve un cerdito por aquĆ­? ¡Shhh! Creo que estĆ” en el Ć”rbol ..." --Editor