Children's Book / Healthy Eating / Parenting
Date Published: 2/13/2024
Does your child refuse to try new foods?
Do they go off foods they used to like?
They don’t want to help with meal prep?
They become impossible at mealtimes and say they don’t like it before seeing it.
Why are dinosaur-shaped nuggets so popular? They taste just the same as normal nuggets, but they are shaped for fun.
If you put a sticker of your child’s favorite cartoon character on an apple, they will want that apple, not the identical one next to it.
What if there was a fun game to play at mealtimes that also helps with picky eating?
This book gives you just that. Imagine if you stood in the middle of the kitchen and said in a funny voice, “I think Kiwi fruit looks like troll boulders, and they’re all mine,” or “Brussels Sprouts look like cannon balls, so tonight we’re eating like pirates,” or “This rice looks just like snowflakes, can you sprinkle the snowflakes on that plate for me?” Do you think you’d have your child’s attention and possibly get a giggle?
Children have amazing imaginations, so let’s use them to reduce the stress around mealtimes and create a play environment.
Written by a Nutritionist and mum of two who has helped many children overcome picky eating and families reconnect at mealtimes, this little book takes you into a food fairytale. It encourages children and adults to come up with their ideas of what food looks like to them.
Introduce yourself and tell me about what you do.
I’m a mum of two and live in Brisbane, Australia. I have a Bachelors Degree in Health Science and Nutrition. I ran a business helping Families and Children with their nutrition for years and worked with Schools to introduce new healthy food activities and help picky eaters.
Tell me more about your journey as an author, including the writing process.
- I didn’t intend to be a children’s book author, I had made up a game for my children about what some foods look similar to in fairytales and it turned into a collection of fun stories. My children have had their phases of picky eating and when I started making up games, like kiwi fruit being troll boulders, or carrots looking like unicorn horns, the girls would giggle and want to play and hold the food they had scrunched their noses up at just seconds before. One day I was talking to a parent friend of mine and told her about the fairytale food game and she loved it, she wanted to try the ideas on her own children, so I decided to put some of the ideas in a book to share it.
Tell me about your Book
This book is a collection of some of my children’s favourite food fairytales. It is designed to turn the children’s attention away from the fact that a food is just for eating and focus on how fun it is to imagine what the foods looks like. This usually leads to the children accepting the food onto their plates and encourages them to try new foods. It is also a great way to get children involved with the food preparation where they can see what something looks like before it’s prepared.
Any message for our readers:
That kids and food don’t mix some of the time, new things can be scary like berries can be sweet one day and sour the next. Yesterday they loved pasta and today they don’t. The most effective way to help children feel comfortable with any food is having it on the plate even if they don’t eat it (exposure) and turning the experience into a game. No pressure. This book is a great tool to kick start imagination and playfulness at mealtimes or in the class room.
Story
Just that this is designed as an everyday story book or as a tool to help all children. It is very helpful for children who might be picky eaters or find new foods intimidating. Or it can be used for parents who want to try something new at mealtimes.
About the Author
Social Media Links
Author: Emma Brown @emmajebbink
Author Photo Credit: Malo Photography (Instagram @malophotographyau)
Illustrator Credit: Sally Stephens (Instagram: @sals_animation)
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