As a health-conscious mom, I’m always a bit hard-pressed to find ways to get Fit Boy to eat his veggies. He’s always been a good eater but he’s also gone through several phases of denial when it comes to his willingness to eat what I put on his dinner plate. I rest a bit better at night knowing that I’m far from the only mom who goes through this with their kids. At the same time, I often wish there were more tools available to me to make this process more fun for the both of us.
When I was contacted to review a children’s book, I’ll be completely honest…I was going to turn it down. Not because I didn’t want to but because my kids are necessarily a focal point on this blog. After I read through the email, I decided that a book about a dog who eats his veggies every day was something that was important because my blog is about a mom and a lot of my readers are parents. This means that yes, this children’s book was absolutely relevant to me and this site.
Jasper State is a dog that likes to teach children about eating healthy foods. When he arrives on the scene, his mission is to teach twins David and Dana how good eating your veggies can be.
Feeling Great with Jasper State is both heart-warming and its message is simple: eat your veggies (aka ‘green things’) every day and you will be healthy and strong. What I like about how author Judith Margaret Johnson wrote this book most of all is the simplicity of it. It’s told with kids specifically in mind. It doesn’t get complicated and doesn’t talk down to children. It speaks to them in a language they understand and in terms that they use. My son is only 2.5 years old. He doesn’t know what vegetables are. If he calls something by name it’s because he’s heard us say is, not because he recognizes everything. What does he understand? Green things. He knows what green is and can identify it on his plate. For him, this book is just what he understands.
Concentrating hard reading his book.
I’m just happy that there is a resource out there that can help bring a creative way to teach our kids the benefits to eating healthy. They don’t necessarily grasp when you tell them that eating their veggies will make them strong and healthy. They do (at least my little guy does) get when I explain to him that when Jasper State eats his green things, he was able to clean up the children’s room really fast. That it comes with a sing-a-long disc is just the bonus to this book. We can read about eating good foods, then sing and have a dance party after and get our exercise. Everybody wins!
What an adorable book! I dont have kids yet but I hope to soon and am anxiously awaiting the food fights and anti-veggie battles