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*Can I Eat That?* by Joshua David Stein, illustrated by Julia Rothman
Can I Eat That?
by Joshua David Stein, illustrated by Julia Rothman
Ages 3-8 40 pages Phaidon March 2016 Hardcover    

The question, “Can I eat,” appears on an empty plate. A variety of food choices appear on the page next to it: “…an orange?…an olive?…a sea urchin?” The author assures us that, yes, we can eat all of them. He then explains further about the more unusual food.
A sea urchin is called uni in Japanese. Inside the uni are bright orange strips of meat called coral. You can serve the coral on rice. Uni donburi!
The sea urchins are shown cut in half on a plate and cut up in pieces on top of a bowl of rice in front of a pair of wooden chopsticks. The following pages introduce children to tonnato, tournedos, and a tostado after explaining they do not resemble tornadoes, a word chidren would be familiar with.

There is a silly illustration of pickles growing like leaves (no, you can’t go pickle-picking from a tree, but you can from a barrel of brine) and how jellyfish are not made from jelly and fish but can be eaten with shredded vegetables. This question-and-answer format is a simple, predictable way to reveal interesting facts about foods children may have questions about either because of how it looks, or how it sounds when said aloud (eggplant, chicken fingers).

The last page shows thirty additional foods not previously shown in the book. Children will be able to point to the ones they can eat, but they will likely point to some just to be funny (underpants and high chairs). Older children can debate the which came first, the chicken or egg question, and share what different foods they have tried or might want to try.
 


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  Tanya Boudreau/2016 for curled up with a good kid's book  






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