Teddy Tries a Veggie

What an absolutely wonderful way to discuss fruits and veggies! I loved it. It was colorful, fun, creative and totally educational. I can foresee much more from this beautiful band of goodies. I plan on sharing this book with my family and coop friends right away.

My kids loved this book. Hopefully now they will want to eat veggies!!

I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a great concept and was turned into a cute story. Teddy is a lot like most kids. She does like her fruits but not the veggies. In this book, she learns why it is important to eat the veggies too, so they can work better together. This book takes the hard concept and makes it so easy for the kids to get. I feel like this book can even help adults want to allow all the veggies to work together in their body. The pictures are beautiful and the story is fun. Overall, I give this one four of five stars.

This review will be posted on goodreads, my blog and amazon on 9/25

Of course delicious and healthy fruits and vegetables rock and in this book they do it literally, as they are playing in a band.

Teddy, a young girl (almost 6), has no problem eating fruits, but hates vegetables. Her parents try their best to tell her, that eating both is the sensible thing to do to keep fit and healthy, but to no avail.
One day, when she's out in the garden playing with her cute dog Charlie, Teddy hears strange sounds.
Upon investigating, she is in for a surprise. The fruits and vegetables which grow in the garden, have a life of their own and are celebrating their annual garden fair.
Both groups have their own band: Ruby and The Seeds for the fruits and Hartley and The Leaves for the vegetables.
Sadly, both bands, when playing on their own, offer rather awful screechy sounds, hence the commotion.
Suddenly the peaceful fair is interrupted as the Germs turn up. The Germ Squad on their bikes are there to turn the garden grey, and they are sure they will succeed, because they work together.

This is Teddy's wake up call. Working as a team, that's the plan and she persuades the two bands to play together. Now the music is in perfect harmony, the bands rock, the crowd goes wild.
But what with all the nasty germs? Are they defeated? And will Teddy try and eat vegetables in future?

The story is actually quite clever, that fruits and vegetables are out of tune as long as they are not enjoyed together, just then we find the right balance. The germs turning up as a gang on their bikes, disrupting the harmony, is again a fun idea and it will be highly appealing to young readers. As there's quite a bit of text and words like xylophone or antioxidants, the book is more suitable for already advanced readers. The bright and colourful illustrations enhance the story perfectly.

But there's much more to the clever little book. Throughout the story there are forks in various colours. They can be found again at the end in the Nibble News, which offer more fun facts.
Did you know, that it takes up to 12 tries, before you like a new food? I didn't, but am not sure, if I could persuade my kids to try vegetables they don't like twelve times, before they can be certain it's not for them. Then again, I can now easily see myself at least mentioning this piece of information twelve times and more, and you'll never know, maybe it works.
After the Nibble News there's Digest This, which consists of multiple choice questions and helps to engage the children even further with the story.
Finally, there's a recipe for Teddie's Broccoli Orange Crunch, which sounds delicious.

Teddy Tries a Veggie is a book packed with information and a fun story and vibrant illustrations to go along with it.
Smartee Plates for clever kids.

REVIEW: TEDDY TRIES A VEGGIE [Smartee Plate Book 1] by Jennifer Glockner

First of a series by registered dietician Jennifer Glockner, TEDDY TRIES A VEGGIE showcases an animate vegetable garden filled with musical vegetables, and a smart almost five-year-old who hates veggies. Throughout the story the vegetables learn to cooperate. Teddy and her dog Charlie join in to repel the pesky Germ Squad, whose members want to gray the garden. Teddy learns to appreciate veggies, as do young readers.

Teddy Tries a Veggie by Jennifer Glockner, RDN

In a time where so many meals are grabbed on the go and there is a lack of nutritional meals in the home, Teddy Tries a Veggie presents a wonderful message for young children about the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, and how they work together to fight germs. I was a bit concerned when the story started with the main character, Theodora Rose - Teddy for short, states, “veggies are NOT my thing.” The story quickly redeems itself when Teddy helps her dad in the family garden. The fruits and vegetables are labeled in the garden and easily identifiable. While in the garden, Teddy’s dad began to explain how fruits and vegetables are like musicians playing different instruments in a band. “Each one is good on its own. But, together, they rock!”

I loved the simile used by Teddy’s dad, but I’m not sure I like how the story moves forward from with the fruits and vegetables in the garden coming alive for the “Annual Garden Fair”. Each band, Ruby & the Seeds and Hartley & the Leaves, takes the stage where they sound horrible. When the Germ Squad appears to take over the garden, Teddy begins to understand what her dad was talking about with his comparison. Eaten in isolation the body does not get all of the nutrients needed, but together they help fight off disease and promotes a healthy lifestyle. Once the Germ Squad is run out of the garden, Teddy is called in for dinner where her mother is preparing a Broccoli Orange Crunch (recipe included). In my mind her family was eating Citra Orange who played the Kazoo and Rockley Broccoli who played the Ukele in the band. Maybe I could not suspend disbelief because I am an adult, but this just seemed really weird to me. I believe young children will enjoy the story and will be able to over look the ending where the family eats the band members. I would recommend this title for libraries serving young children (schools and public) as well as for families, especially when there is a picky eater in the home.

The illustrations are brightly colored and cartoonish. I like how each character is introduced with a bit of information, their likes, dislikes, and what brought them fame. It allows the reader to know more about each character (including the vegetables) without having to include too much background information in the story.

Author, Jennifer Glockner is a registered dietitian nutritionist. According to the information “About the Author” she is “passionate about empowering kids to become smart eaters who use food as a lifelong tool to prevent disease and promote wellness.

*To comply with new guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, Smith Publicity has provided a copy of Teddy Tries a Veggie in eBook format for review purposes. This review is my opinion and is in no way influenced by the publishing company.