It's tomato season in Louisiana. Translation: Tomato Sandwich Season! Two slices of white lightly toasted, thick slabs of juicy red goodness, Blue Plate mayo, a sprinkle of salt. Summer HEAVEN.
Does your tot take to tomatoes? Does she beam at the sight of green beans? Does eggplant eggcite him? I thought not.
Board books can help.
In their 2014 article Let's look at Leeks! Picture Books Increase Toddlers' Willingness to Look At, Taste and Consume Unfamiliar Vegetables, UK researchers Philippa Heath, Carmel Houston-Price and Orla B. Kennedy report that sharing books about veggies can affect your child's view of them. Study children were more apt to eye, try and eat more of a vegetable they had read about with their moms, but only if the vegetable was unfamiliar to them at the start. Peas, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes were likely out of the game. The children in the study (made up of two experiments) ranged in age from 19 to 26 months. They were nearly or newly two. This is important because strictly speaking study results apply only to children of that same age. Moms were asked to read selected picture books daily for 14 days. Actual reading amounts and times varied. Findings suggest that books with realistic pictures or photographs produce the strongest effects.
Fresh board picks:
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| Eating the Alphabet (1996) by Lois Ehlert |
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| My First Colors: Let's Learn Them All! (2010) by DK |
Now for that tomato sandwich. Should I add a slice of cheese?
