Books by Ellyn Satter, expert on children’s eating
Book Recommendations for Children
Cookbooks for Children
Ethnic Cookbooks
Fitness Video Recommendations
NYC Physical Activity Resources
Websites for Parents
Great books by Ellyn Satter, leading expert on young children’s eating:
Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense
How to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much
Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family
Your Child’s Weight: Helping without Harming
Book Recommendations for Children
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV (First Time Books(R))
By Stan and Jan Berenstain
Age: 4-8 years
A classic book that’s very popular with kids. It provides
a great opportunity to talk about the problems with watching too much
TV. Kids can offer suggestions for fun alternatives like active
play and different kinds of physical activities. It’s a
fun and great way to show kids that there are lots of things to do other
than watching TV.
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food (First Time Books(R))
By Stan and Jan Berenstain
Age: 4-8 years
Mama Bear thinks her cubs are eating too much junk food so she and
her family figure out ways to eat a more healthy and nutritious diet. This
book is a fun, great tool for starting discussion about limiting junk
food. Also, kids and parents can share ideas for delicious, nutritious
snacks and ways to keep your body healthy.
Eating the Alphabet
By Lois Ehlert
Age: 3-8 years
A beautifully illustrated book that teaches the alphabet by using lots
of unique and interesting foods. A great opportunity to teach
kids about new foods like avocados, figs, Indian corn, kumquats, papaya
and much more! Because of the wide variety of foods included,
it is an excellent resource for starting discussion about new foods
they may have never heard of before.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
By Jan Brett
Age: 4-8 years
A long-time favorite and classic story that every kid is sure to enjoy!
Goldilocks has to choose between bowls of food that are too small, too
big, and just right. This book is a wonderful way to talk about
portion sizes and paying attention to your body’s fullness. Kids
can learn to rate their hunger throughout meals in terms of a little
hungry, really hungry, or just right.
Dinosaurs Alive and Well!: A Guide to Good Health (Dino Life Guides for Families)
By Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown
Age: 4-8 years
Colorful and bright dinosaurs provide kids with a blueprint to good
health. Nutrition, exercise and fitness are some of the topics
that are encountered.
Family Pictures, 15th Anniversary Edition / Cuadros de Familia, Edición Quinceañera
By Carmen Lomas Garza
Age: 4-8 years
The author describes, in bilingual text and illustrations, her experiences
growing up in a Hispanic community in Texas. Several of the stories
focus on food-picking, cactus, making tamales, eating tacos, picking
oranges and eating watermelon.
Growing Vegetable Soup (Voyager/Hbj Book)
By Lois Ehlert
Age: 4-8 years
This vivid and colorful book is sure to capture a kid’s attention. Watch
how a vegetable garden is grown and then used to make a delicious vegetable
soup. Kids can talk about vegetables they’ve tried, learn
about new vegetables they haven’t been exposed to yet, and get
excited about cooking fresh foods. A great way to introduce kids
to the gardening cycle with an easy-to-make vegetable soup recipe included.
How Are You Peeling?
By Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
Age: 4-8 years
This book is lots of fun for both parents and kids! Delicious fruits
and vegetables have a variety of emotions and facial expressions that
are clever, cute, and amazingly true to their food personalities. See
a cheerful red tomato, a wistful pepper, and other expressions on a
variety of foods. The book is an excellent way to jump-start some
great discussions about feelings and foods.
How My Family Lives in America (Aladdin Picture Books)
By Susan Kuklin
Age: 4-7 years
On the Move (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science)
By Deborah Heiligman
Age: 4-8 years
A fun book that shows kids how to move their bodies in all different
kinds of ways. It’s got walking, dancing, bike riding, swinging,
jumping rope, and much more. The book encourages discussion about physical
activity, and it can be used to facilitate kids’ ideas for physical
activity and active play. It’s a great way to get kids excited
about being active and moving around!
Raising Cows on the Koebels' Farm (Our Neighborhood)
By Alice K. Flanagan and Romie Flanagan
Age: 4-8 years
Here’s a book that introduces kids to the daily workings of a
modern day farm and teaches kids where milk comes from. Informative
pictures and the large word font offer a kid-friendly way of introducing
the process of getting food from the farm to the home.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book
By Eric Carle
Age: 1-3 years
A colorful and classic tale that follows this hungry caterpillar through
the week. Each day the caterpillar eats something new and kids
can see how he gets fuller by the day. The book provides an excellent
way to talk about hunger and fullness, and can start discussion about
eating the right amount of food for your body. Great for engaging
kids and teaching them all about nutrition and different kinds of food.
Cookbooks for Children
American Heart Association Kids' Cookbook: All Recipes Made by Real Kids in Real Kitchens!
By American Heart Association
Age: 6-12 years
Contains colorful illustrations and contains quick and easy
heart-healthy recipes that kids will enjoy.
New Junior Cookbook (Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen)
By Jennifer Dorland Darling
Age: 9-12 years
Makes cooking fun, delicious, and adventurous. Every recipe
has been kid-tested, so junior chefs can tackle each of them
with confidence.
Cook and Learn: Pictorial Single Portion Recipes : A Child's Cook Book (Book and Teacher's Guide)
By Thelma Harms
Age:4-8 years
A child’s cookbook of single-portion recipes from a variety of
cultures.
Cup Cooking: Individual Child-Portion Picture Recipes
By Barbara Johnson Foote
Age: 3 and up
The simple recipes in this book are ideal for young children.
Every child can be a chef.
Dinner from Dirt: Ten Meals Kids Can Grow and Cook (Gibbs Smith Junior Book)
By Emily Scott and Catherine Duffy
Age: 7-12 years
This cookbook allows kids to prepare and eat foods they have
grown in their garden. Kids can make a pizza garden, a spaghetti
garden, a soup garden, and desserts such as sugar ‘n spice pumpkin
bars and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
The Fannie Farmer Junior Cookbook
By Joan Scobey
Age: 9-12 years
This book discusses cooking techniques and presents recipes
for soups, breads, meat and fish dishes, vegetables, pasta
and grains, salads, and desserts. Aspiring cooks are given tips on how to
cook good food for the entire family.
A Good Soup Attracts Chairs: A First African Cookbook for American Kids
By Fran Osseo-Asare
Age:9-12 years
Presents over 35 easy-to-follow recipes from the kitchens of
West Africa and Ghana and instructions on how to throw an African
party.
The Healthy Body Cookbook: Over 50 Fun Activities and Delicious Recipes for Kids
By Joan D’Amico & Karen Drummond
Age:9-12 years
Over 50 fun activities and delicious recipes for kids. Filled
with lots of hands-on lessons about the important roles that
diet and exercise play in the development of our bodies. All
activities are kid tested and require only common ingredients
and kitchen utensils.
Healthy Snacks for Kids (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks) (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks)
By Penny Warner
Age:6-10 years
This snack cookbook is designed to provide creative ways to
get children to eat healthful foods.
The Healthy Start Kids' Cookbook: Fun and Healthful Recipes That Kids Can Make Themselves
By Sandra Nissenberg, R.D.
Age: 6-10 years
Fun and healthy recipes that kids can make themselves. Shows
6-10 year olds that making nutritious food can be just as much
fun as eating it. This illustrated cookbook contains 90 fun
kid-tested recipes, including painted pancakes, fruit kabobs,
oven baked chicken nuggets, and gingerbread muffins.
Hey Kids! You're Cookin' Now! A Global Awareness Cooking Adventure
By Dianne Pratt
Age:9-12 years
This children's cookbook contains 80 healthy recipes with nutritional
analyses, 100 full-color illustrations, 25 craft and ecology
experiments, kitchen safety and cooking preparation, a culinary
glossary, and a measurement conversion table.
Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students (Cookbooks for Students)
By Lois Sinaiko Webb
Age: 8-12 years
This book features a collection of 388 recipes from more than
136 countries. Also described are the local holidays, customs
and foods that are part of the holiday traditions in each country.
Honest Pretzels: And 64 Other Amazing Recipes for Cooks Ages 8 & Up
By Mollie Katzen
Age:8-12 years
This book contains many fun and easy recipes for school-age
children, but will also give the cook reading and math practice.
Safety tips are included.
Just for Kids: A Cookbook
By Jen Bays Avis and Kathy F. Ward
Age: 6-10 years
This cookbook is for everyone with children, or for the "kid at
heart." The recipes are fast and easy, designed to involve children
in the cooking process, and encourage good nutrition habits.
A Kid's Cookbook: Educational and Edible Delights
By Carol Kurzweg
Age:9-12 years
Over 52 educational and edible delights to introduce children
to cooking. Includes recipes for making bunny bread, rocket
salad, caterpillars, vegetable bouquet, picnic chicken, etc.
Also includes tips for healthy eating and cultural facts.
The Mother Goose Cookbook: Rhymes and Recipes for the Very Young
By Marianna Mayer
Age:4-8 years
Now parents and children together can join friends from their
favorite nursery rhymes for breakfast, lunch, dessert, and
snacks. The recipes will introduce young chefs to the delights
of reading, cooking, and eating-with a little help fro m Mother
Goose.
My Measuring Cup
By Joanne Barkan and Jody Wheeler
Age: 2 and up
Illustrates the different types of measuring utensils and how
they are used in cooking.
Pancakes, Pancakes! (Stories to Go!)
By Eric Carle
Age: Baby-Preschool
A
step by step description
of making pancakes and all
the ingredients.
Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up
By Mollie Katzen
Age: 3-8 years
Contains classroom and home tested recipes that children between
the ages of 3-8 can prepare with adult supervision. Designed
to inspire an early appreciation for creative, wholesome food.
Helps children gain counting skills, reading skills, science
awareness, self-confidence, patience, and food literacy.
Quick Meals for Healthy Kids and Busy Parents: Wholesome Family Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less From Three Leading Child Nutrition Experts
By Sandra Nissenberg, R.D., Margaret Bogle, R.D., and Audrey Wright,
R.D.
Age:7-12 years
This cookbook contains over 140 tasty, healthy, and easy recipes
that kids and parents can make in no time. It also includes
suggestions for snacks and lunchboxes, information on the food
guide pyramid, and timesaving ideas for the kitchen.
Storybook Stew: Cooking With Books Kids Love
By Suzanne Barchers and Peter Rauen
Age: 5 and up
Each recipe in this book is accompanied by a featured book
and a suggested activity. For example, you can read about The
Story of Johnny Appleseed, make Johnny’s Apple Butter, and create your
own apple prints.
Ethnic Cookbooks
It’s exciting to cook meals that honor your family traditions
and celebrate your ethnicity. Here are some cookbooks that incorporate
updated nutritional guidelines into traditional ethnic recipes. Enjoy
these delicious and nutritious meals with your whole family! Bon Apetit!
Soul Food
- Low-Fat
Soul
by Jonell Nash
- Neo
Soul
by Lindsey Williams
Indian
- Secrets
of Fat-free Indian Cooking: Over 150 Low-fat and Fat-free
Traditional Recipes (Secrets of Fat Free)
by Priya Kulkarni and Anita Ranade
- Healthy South Indian Cooking
by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt
Latin American
- Latina Lite Cooking: 200 Delicious Lowfat Recipes from All Over the Americas - With Special Selections on Nutrition and Weight Loss
by Maria Dolores Beatriz
- Steven Raichlen's Healthy Latin Cooking: 200 Sizzling Recipes from Mexico, Cuba, The Caribbean, Brazil, and Beyond
by Steven Raichlen
Fitness Video Recommendations
It’s important for children to have opportunities for active play. Children develop different skills when they play quietly and when they are active and moving around. It’s great if you can find time for your child to play inside and outside. Children need time to be active and exercise just like adults do.
Exercise videos are a great way for children to be active inside!
Exercise Videos for Children Ages 2-6:
Alphabet Exercise DVD
Sesame
Street - Elmocize
Sesame
Street - Happy Healthy Monsters -
Grover, Cookie Monster, Elmo, and special guests Wyclef
and India Arie all help children see the fun in leading
a healthy lifestyle in this interactive and engaging
video. Kids are encouraged to enjoy nutritious foods
and have lots of fun while exercising. Parents and kids
will find this video informative, humorous, and entertaining.<
Tots Rock!– This video encourages children to engage in age-appropriate exercises and helps them develop essential motor skills that they’ll use for years to come!
Exercise Videos for Children Ages 6 and up:
Scott
Cole's Get Fit America for Kids! (DVD)
- This video introduces children to the benefits of
Tai Chi, Yoga and cardio, conditioning, and flexibility
exercises. It’s a great variety of exercises
that show kids many different ways of staying physically
active.
Everybody
Dance
Billy
Blanks: Tae Bo Kicks – This
workout is intended to build strength and fitness
through the use of martial arts and dance. Billy Blanks is
great in encouraging and motivating children to develop healthy
attitudes towards exercise and eating. Kids will really work
up a sweat with these activities!
To read about additional fitness videos or to find out more about those listed above, try the following websites:
http://www.fitnessbeginnings.com
http://www.jouejouekids.com/products.html
http://exerciseforkids.com
http://www.videofitness.com
http://www.activevideos.com
http://www.fitnessandkids.com
Here are some links to websites that advertise interactive exercise video games for children:
http://www.ddrgame.com
http://www.fitnessandkids.com/exercise-game-bikes.html
http://www.eyetoykinetic.com
NYC Physical Activity Resources
Doctors recommend that kids get at least 1 hour of physical activity every day. There are lots of ways to have a great time doing physical activities. Here is a list of facilities in New York City that offer sports, recreation programs, and fun community activities updated for every season.
YMCA
Community organization offering many health and fitness services.
New York Parks and
Recreation Department
Comprehensive source of city parks, recreation facilities,
and various programs encouraging use of these facilities.
Youth Sports Leagues: New York City Parks & Recreation
Lists and contact information for baseball, basketball, soccer,
and other sports leagues around New York City
GoCity Kids!
Detailed descriptions of many different parks in New York City
and resources for outdoor adventures, sports centers, parks and playgroups,
and day camps.
Village Green- Brooklyn Sports
Source of information about fun fitness activities in the Brooklyn
area, including canoeing, sports leagues for children, and specific
neighborhood activities.
New York City Fitness Centers
An extensive list of gyms and fitness centers in all five boroughs
Chelsea Piers
This huge recreation facility includes golf, swimming, bowling,
a skating rink, and health club.
Websites for Parents
Alliance
for a Healthier Generation
This organization partners with the American Heart Association and the William
J. Clinton Foundation to end childhood obesity and encourage children to lead
healthy, active lifestyles. It offers innovative tips for modifying lunch boxes
and snacks, and provides information about nutritious options available at restaurants.
Additionally, the websites offers tips for understanding portion sizes and helping
picky eaters. Information about physical activity geared for children and adults
is included.
Child
and Teen BMI Calculator
From the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This calculator provides BMI and
the corresponding BMI-for-age percentile on a CDC BMI-for-age growth chart. Use
this calculator for children and teens, aged 2 through 19 years old.
My Pyramid
This website explains the new food pyramid guidelines in simple and usable terms.
Tips for incorporating healthy foods and physical activity are provided.
Shape Up America!
This website provides information for parents who think their
children might be overweight, or are trying to prevent them from becoming
overweight. The website also offers unique ideas for physical activities.
WIC
The WIC website contains many ways for helping your family be healthy.
Specific topics covered are drinking more water, active play, family
meals, and fruits and vegetables. The website offers many affordable
and easy ideas for getting kids excited about eating healthy, enjoying
nutritious food, and having fun with active play and exercise.
Weight-Control Information Network
Part of the US Department of Health and Human Services and the National
Institutes of Health, the Weight-Control Information Network provides
general information for parents about healthy snacks, incorporating
physical activity into your child’s routine, and including children
in meal planning and preparation.