Food For All
Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith
Otter-Barry Books

We all – humans and creatures large and small – need food of some sort in order to live. Some, including lots of humans eat other animals, some eat plants and some eat fish and other sea creatures. Interestingly, as the extraterrestrial creature that comments on various pages informs us, the largest creature on planet earth – the blue whale – eats krill, one of the tiniest. It’s not the only being that makes thought-provoking comments from time time time; so too do various animals and humans of different ages.

Almost twenty aspects of food and feeding are explored starting with growing food for both human consumption and for animals. This is followed by a look at what plants require to grow and the topic of chemicals is mentioned – their uses and the harm they cause.

There’s a spread about harvest and a look at associated festivals in various parts of India.
For me the most distressing fact is that despite there being more than enough food in the world for everyone, starvation still abounds and even in rich countries like the USA and Great Britain, there are many people who need to regularly rely on food banks. Equally shocking is that there is an awful lot of food wastage.

But, as we read, there are things that all of us can do.

Mary Hoffman’s engaging style makes a wealth of information easily digestible for primary age readers and Ros Asquith’s droll illustrations help keep the tone of the whole book light and inviting. A thought-provoking book that offers a wealth of discussion topics.