Great Book Picks For Your Picky Eater
“There are many different things to eat, and they taste many different ways. But when I have bread and jam I always know what I am getting, and I am always pleased”. –Bread and Jam for Frances, Russell and Lillian Hoban.
My daughter Y is a picky eater. She has a long list of foods that she dislikes. She also has a list of foods that she likes, which is noticeably shorter than the first.
When Y started showing signs of food pickiness, around the age of three, my husband and I were alarmed. It is difficult for most parents to watch their child eat only a few types of foods, especially when those foods are high in simple carbs and low in protein, vitamins and minerals. Baffled, we consulted our trusted parenting books. The books emphasized that we should refrain from forcing, bribing or begging. We must continue to serve healthy, well-rounded meals, play it cool and eventually, our child’s body would instruct her to get the nutrients it needs.
We did exactly as the books advised, but Y continued to pick at her plate, pushing aside the proteins and veggies, eating the carbs and asking enthusiastically “what’s for dessert?” We started giving her a daily multivitamin, and went to the Children’s library to search for books on the subject. Here’s what we found:
Bread and Jam for Frances, Russell and Lillian Hoban; recommended for ages 4-8.
Frances is a little badger that refuses to eat anything but bread and jam. Her wise parents, instead of fighting her, serve her bread, jam and milk for all her meals and snacks. Soon Frances discovers that she is tired of jam and that what she really wants is to eat healthy, balanced meals, just like her family and friends.
When I read the book to Y for the first time, she was fascinated. She wanted to know if she too could eat bread and jam for all her meals. I guess our plan sort of backfired. We tried not to fret too much and obliged. For two full days she had bread, strawberry jam and milk for each and every meal. By day three, predictably, she was sick of jam and ready to eat real food. At first, “real food” was confined, more or less, to her existing list of acceptable foods. We kept reading the story to her and slowly, her inventory of tolerable foods seemed to expand.
One evening, as I was serving dinner, Y examined her plate carefully, took a bite of broccoli and announced, borrowing a line from the book, “I think eating is nice”.
I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat a Tomato, Lauren Child; Ages 4-8.
In this title, Charlie, Lola’s big brother, finds an innovative way to introduce new foods to his picky sister. When she tries the foods, she finds out that she actually likes them.
This book tackles the specific issue of refusing to try new foods, and is an excellent aid in parents’ usually futile argument of “but if you just take one bite, you might find out that you actually like it”. It helped us persuade little Y to try asparagus for the first time. We borrowed Charlie’s trick, gave the asparagus a playful new name (green shoelaces), and Y actually took a bite, then another. She is not exactly an asparagus enthusiast, but the dish isn’t automatically rejected anymore.
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss; Recommended for ages 4-8.
Dr. Seuss’ funny, wacky rhymes in this timeless classic convey the idea that if you only nag your child enough, and present the food he refuses to try in many different ways, he just might try it and find that he actually likes it. The idea is actually supported by research: according to the Mayo Clinic, “Children often need at least 10 exposures to a new food before they accept it, so be persistent”.
I wish I could conclude by telling you how my daughter has morphed from a fussy eater into a food aficionada, but she is still very conservative about her food consumption, preferring the familiar to the unfamiliar and the simple to the sophisticated. But the list of foods that meet her standards has grown considerably over the past couple of years. And once in a while, she’ll agree to try something new, find out she actually likes it and add it to her list.
Now that’s progress.
Photo by Reini68
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