Children's Books for Spring: S - Z

The obesity epidemic among American youngsters has been front and center in the media, and one spring title exposes one of the key causes of this frightening phenomenon. Due in May from Houghton Mifflin, Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food by Eric Schlosser and Charles W. Wilson serves up some less-than-appetizing morsels about fast food, revealing what actually lurks between those sesame-seed buns.

Schlosser has sampled similar fare before. His Fast Food Nation, an exposé aimed at adults, has sold more than 1.4 million copies in hardcover and paper since its 2001 publication. Wilson, who worked as Schlosser's fact-checker for that book, suggested that kids really needed access to the information in Fast Food Nation . "I thought he was right, and then recruited him to work on the book with me," Schlosser recalls. "The fast food and soda industries spend billions of dollars every year targeting children with ads. We thought kids deserved to hear a different point of view."

Schlosser explains that he used much the same approach in researching Chew on This as he did for his adult book, "combining reportage with archival research, exploring history and economics and sociology and a bit of science." He says they left out "some of the more gruesome and disturbing episodes" in Fast Food Nation, "but on the whole, we didn't engage in self-censorship. I think kids need to face some of these harsh realities."

Of the hard-hitting information the authors uncovered, their findings on obesity among America's youth were among the most disturbing. "The details are heartbreaking," Schlosser reports. "It is absolutely essential to prevent children from becoming obese. The physical and emotional toll is too high. I think the fast food chains bear a great deal of responsibility right now for the poor health of American children."

And what does Schlosser hope readers take away from this book? "Most of all, I hope it makes children think," he responds. "It wasn't written to persuade kids to become vegans or anti-corporate activists. It was written to make kids think about where their food comes from, and how it's produced, and how it affects their lives. And if a young person reads this book and then thinks twice about ordering McNuggets, well, that's okay, too."

—Sally Lodge

Once again, some books jumped out at us as we were compiling these children's, begging to be acknowledged for one reason or another. And so we are obliging—in the spirit of fun, of course!

Book Most Likely to Send Parents Who've Recently Noticed a New Wrinkle or Two Running Back to the Mirror: Raisin and Grape by Tom Amico and James Proimos, illus. by Andy Snair, in which a young grape spends the day with his grandfather... a raisin. (Dial)

Book Most Likely to Make Kids View their Keyboards with Greater Curiosity: Alfie the Apostrophe by Moira Rose Donohue, illus. by JoAnn Adinolfi. The title character is nervous about making it into the punctuation mark talent show. (Albert Whitman)

Picture Book Plot Most Likely to Slow Down Over-Programmed Parents: Not Now, Bernard by David McKee, a tale about parents who are too busy to notice their child—and the monster about to eat him. (Trafalgar Square/Andersen Press)

Story That Will Make Kids Most Grateful That There's Cake on Their Birthday Party Menus: Martha Moth Makes Socks by Cambria Evans, in which the title character cooks up a scrumptious scarf, sweater and socks for her birthday bash. (Houghton Mifflin)

Title Most Apt to Strike a Chord with Kids Apprehensive About the First Day of School: If God Loves Me, Why Can't I Get My Locker Open? by Lorraine Peterson. (Bethany House)

Picture Book Most Apt to Keep Parents of Vegetable-Hating Kids Vigilant at the Dinner Table: Mabel O'Leary Puts Peas in Her Ear-y by Mary G. Delaney, illus. by Kathy Couri. A girl who can't leave the table till she finishes her veggies gets creative. (Little, Brown)

Title That Youngsters Are Most Likely to Disobey: Do Not Open This Book! by Michaela Muntean, illus. by Pascal Lemaitre, a command issued by the pig within who is trying to write his masterpiece and does not want to be disturbed. (Scholastic Press)

Plot Most Likely to Make Kids Stop Rolling Their Eyes at Their Parents' Aspirations: Out of Patience by Brian Meehl, the tale of a boy mortified by his dad's dream of opening a toilet museum in their town, home to the first flush toilet. (Delacorte).

—Sally Lodge