Who Wants Pizza?: The Kids' Guide to the History, Science and Culture of Food - Softcover

Thornhill, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897349971 ISBN 13: 9781897349977

Publisher: Owlkids, 2010

Synopsis

Part of the loosely constructed series by Jan Thornhill, which already includes This Is My Planet and I Found a Dead Bird, Who Wants Pizza? is brimming with no-nonsense facts that illustrate the importance of food choices and the practices surrounding food production. Full of direct, eye-opening information about why we need to eat, where our food comes from, how much of it we have, and why some food choices are wiser than others, the book covers a lot of important ground. Topics are easy to dip into and include digestion, the domestication of animals, different cultures’ table etiquette, sustainable agriculture, and the evolution of farming and food preservation. Short blocks of bite-sized text, just the right amount of “icky” info that kids love, plus a visually stimulating layout that uses captivating photo-illustration collages all add up to make Who Wants Pizza? a fun, fact-filled look at all things food-related.

About this title

About the Author

JAN THORNHILL’s science, nature, and animal-based books have received multiple honors, most recently the Vicky Metcalf award for her body of work. Jan lives in Peterborough County, Ontario, where she spends her spare time looking for weird fungi in the woods with her dog, Ruby.

Reviews

Botany, zoology, chemistry, human physiology, nutrition, and other aspects of science are at the center of this highly readable photo-essay, illustrated with numerous color photos, diagrams, and sidebars on every double-page spread. Starting with a focus on pizza, the casual, interactive text discusses why the body needs vitamins, calories, salt, fats, and proteins; explains with step-by-step facts how the digestive system breaks down food and extracts the nutrients; and explores how food comes from fields to plates. Included among the covered topics are the chemistry of fertilizers and pesticides, the obesity epidemic, the technology of genetic modification, fish-farming, and fast food, providing a wide-reaching, global, and historical view. Most urgent are the environmental issues: what about world hunger problems? Can science come to the rescue with genetically modified crops and are there dangers involved? A packed page containing a glossary and list of resources closes this food-for-thought title. Grades 5-8. --Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Owlkids
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1897349971
• ISBN 13: 9781897349977
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64