Nutrition, food sources, and the pleasures of cooking and eating are themes that are cropping up in an increasing number of children’s books dishing out facts, advice, and inspiration to encourage healthy eating. As a second course to Bookshelf’s recent offering about food-inspired fiction, here’s a look at what’s cooking on the nonfiction range.

Kids today are immersed in the world of food in multiple ways, from classroom lessons on the importance of good eating habits to TV cooking shows that both entertain and teach kitchen skills. “Everywhere you turn these days you can learn about food on TV, online, in magazines of all kinds, and on social media,” Marcus Samuelsson, an acclaimed Ethiopia-born chef who was raised in Sweden and now owns Red Rooster restaurant in Manhattan, told PW. “Children now don’t have to rely on just what’s in their own kitchen. There’s a whole virtual kitchen open to them.”

Samuelsson reveals his passion for cooking and his commitment to achieving his goals in Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life, due from Delacorte in June. In the book, written with Veronica Chambers and adapted from the adult title, Yes, Chef: A Memoir (Random House, 2012), Samuelsson draws on his own culinary journey to inspire readers to embrace their mistakes and follow their dreams.

Samuelsson continually witnesses – and encourages – budding young chefs’ interest in healthy eating and food preparation. “We regularly host kids’ cooking classes at Red Rooster,” he said, “and it’s remarkable how many questions they have about where food comes from and how to make it tasty. Kids today are incredibly curious about cooking and open to learning about and tasting fruits and vegetables.”

Beverly Horowitz, v-p and publisher of Delacorte Books for Young Readers, who edited Make It Messy, noted that kids’ growing interest in nutrition and food is rooted in a broader-based movement. “I think there’s an enormous national shift to live a healthful lifestyle, and that more kids are realizing that their bodies are theirs to build better and stronger, and that what they put in their bodies can make them healthier,” she said. “I think kids today are more aware that they have choices in terms of what they eat, and that they can take control of that.”

Encouraging kids to think about what they eat is the precise goal of Are You What You Eat?: What’s On Your Plate and Why, which DK will release simultaneously in the U.S. and the UK in April. In characteristic DK style, the book uses colorful pictures, quizzes, and questions to present nutritional information and advice on making smart food choices.

“We didn’t want the book to feel like a lecture about why we should eat healthily,” said James Mitchem, project editor at DK in London, who is one of the book’s editors. “Our aim was to give children a reason to get curious and start wonder things such as, ‘Why do I get hungry and thirsty?’ and ‘What happens if I eat too much sugar?’ By making the subject fun and engaging, our hope is that children will take a real interest in what they eat. And seeing as most children don’t have control over their meals, we wanted the book to also be a helpful resource for parents. The more information that’s out there, the better.”

Getting to the Source

Gail Gibbons is the author-illustrator of more than 170 nonfiction books for children, a number of which are food-themed, including The Milk Makers, From Seed to Plant, The Berry Book, Apples, Corn, and The Vegetables We Eat. Her most recent title, The Fruits We Eat, due in May from Holiday House, examines the characteristics of various fruits and where and how they grow, and discusses incorporating them into one’s diet. Like her earlier food-inspired books, this latest focuses on the source of healthy foods, a subject she feels is very important for children to learn.

The author is gratified that her books are frequently used in the classroom – increasingly so since the implementation of the Common Core initiative. “I am overjoyed that kids seem to be more and more curious about where food comes from, and that teachers are incorporating that into the curriculum,” she said.

Gibbons also cited the positive impact of National Agriculture in the Classroom, a grassroots program coordinated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that promotes “agricultural literacy” in schools. “The enthusiasm for this program is phenomenal, which I see as a very hopeful sign,” she said. “It is raising kids’ food consciousness nationwide, and educating them about where what they eat comes from. I do a lot of school visits, and have seen students actually planting and caring for vegetable gardens – what a great lesson for kids!”

The current widespread attention paid to nutrition and cooking – in books, the media, the classroom, and at home – bodes well for the future health and culinary savoir-faire of today’s kids. As a chef and author, Samuelsson emphasized the rewards of passing down the legacy that has shaped his life. “My love for food really started for me as a kid, in the kitchen with my grandmother,” he said. “It’s powerful to learn to cook, and to have the confidence and inspiration to make a meal for your loved ones. My hope is that Make It Messy ignites that interest and excitement for a new generation.”

What’s on the Menu?

Here’s a taste of publishers’ recent and forthcoming food-inspired nonfiction offerings:

Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life by Marcus Samuelsson and Veronica Chambers. Delacorte, $19.99 June ISBN 978-0-385-74400-3

Are You What You Eat?: A Guide to What’s on Your Plate and Why. DK, $16.99 Apr. ISBN 978-1-4654-29944-5

The Fruits We Eat by Gail Gibbons. Holiday House, $17.95 Jan. ISBN 978-0-8234-3204-2

Julia Child: An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures by Erin Hagar, illus. by Joanna Gorham. Duopress (dist. by PGW/Legato Publishers Group), $15.99 May ISBN 978-1-938093-34-0. This illustrated biography of the iconic chef and TV personality reveals how Child found her calling in the kitchen and devoted her life to learning, perfecting, and sharing the art of French cuisine.

Weird But True! Food: 300 Bite Size Facts About Incredible Edibles. National Geographic Kids and Julie Beer. National Geographic Kids, $7.99 paper Mar. ISBN 978-1-4263-1871-9. The latest addition to the Weird But True! series serves up assorted tidbits about food.

Plants Feed Me by Lizzy Rockwell. Holiday House, paper $6.99 Jan. ISBN 978-0-8234-3307-0. In this paperback reprint, a multicultural group of kids explore where and how plants grow, and which parts of them are edible.