World food alphabet by Chris Caldicott

Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2012. ISBN 978 1 84780 284 2
(Ages: 5+) Highly recommended. Alphabet book. Food. An alphabet book with a difference, each letter is about a type of food used somewhere in the world, and shown in different countries. Each type of food is depicted being grown, harvested, sold at a market, used in the kitchen or sold in a shop. Each vibrant, colour filled page is full of life
reflecting the variety of people around the globe. What a wonderful book to use when discussing food in a primary classroom or looking at how different people cook, or look at kitchens or markets or shopping. The list is endless as this enlightening book invites its readers in to think about other cultures and their use of food, fair trade and recycling The array of photographs themselves is breathtaking as they contain complete stories, ones which will initiate discussion and further research.
Choosing a favourite to discuss is difficult, but amongst the ones I like more than the others, is 'K is for Kitchens', which shows four very different kitchens. One is western, and our classes will recognise this straight away: while the other three are from one village, inviting students to compare and contrast, pick out similarities and differences, find out where these kitchens are, work out how they would go working in one. I can imagine students drawing up a list of all the things available to use in each kitchen, and describing how the person would go about preparing a meal in one. Another page I loved is 'M is or Markets', again having a number of pictures depicting the range of markets selling food around the world.
Each of the markets is very different from the other, again inviting discussion and comparison. Pages on Water, Olives, and Utensils also caught my eye in this lovely, very useful book.
Fran Knight