Questions. Kids are full of them. Get some answers here!
How Did That Get In my Lunchbox?
by Chris Butterworth
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 5005 6
Audience: kinders to grade 3
Ever wonder where the bread in your sandwich came from before it arrived at the store? How the cheese was made? This entertaining book breaks it down for you in engaging, kid-friendly language that explains the process and ends on a note of appreciation for the yumminess of foods. It’s a nice amount of information – not too much detail, but enough to give a good idea of what is involved in getting food to your table. Er, lunchbox.
This book is perfectly formatted to appeal to younger grades, too. The size is large enough, but not intimidating, the pages a touch thicker than usual for easy turning, and the rounded corners remind me of toddler books. The illustrations, though, are what really make all of this pop. Bright and bold, yet detailed enough to make the foods look really special, there is a fun retro flair here that I am loving.
The book ends with a bit of info about balanced eating, too. Combined with the new knowledge about where food comes from,t his may be the perfect tool for creating your own little Michael Pollan. 
You Asked?
by chickaDEE and OWL magazines
OwlKids
ISBN: 978 1 926818 13 9
Audience: grades 4-6
The subtitle of this revamped edition promises “over 300 great questions and astounding answers” – and with 35 years of questions from Owl Magazine readers to draw on, I have no doubt they could do several more volumes! (Yes, Owl magazine is 35! How many of you remember reading Owl as kids? I kept mine for years.)
With sections full of questions about your body, science and tech, space, and animals, there is answers for everyone in here, even for things you never thought to ask! This kind of browsing book is a great way to pass some time together, and also has terrific appeal for reluctant readers.
It IS fantastic! I was a huge Owl Mag fan as a kid, so I’m thrilled to see they’ve updated this for the new edition, but kept a lot of the vintage photos and artwork in it, for those of us who are old enough to make this nostalgia as well as a great book for our kids!
The second book is AWESOME! It’s been around for quite a while — I bought a copy at a garage sale, hard-cover, in about 2001/2002 when my daughter was a baby because it has great pictures & explanations. I would read it to her as a tot, just snippets of each thing, and would talk to her about the pictures… she eventually had the book in pieces, because her little 2 or 3 year old self couldn’t leave it alone — he ALWAYS grabbed that off her shelf first!
Imagine my delight when a fellow “freecycler” gifted me a crayola pack she had won — and this book in softcover, was in the box! My daughter, then 9 years old, was over the moon — she remembered the book and all the pages, she started reading it the second she unpacked the box!
We highly recommend this book!