A WORLD OF FOOD

Peek into worlds where the trees are made of broccoli and the clouds of sweet meringue.

Warner’s monochromatic photographed landscapes, constructed from an astounding array of edible items, take center stage in this offering. He begins with a yellow landscape in which a beach, pyramids, trees and a hot-air balloon are constructed from couscous, rice, beans, cheese and pasta. The image takes up three-quarters of a two-page spread, with half of a single page devoted to rhyming verse that describes the image. Other photographs include a gray landscape made mostly of mushrooms, a delectable chocolaty-brown image featuring a train, with cocoa-powder hills in the distance, and a disquieting red landscape presenting mountains made of raw meat and a scorpion of peppers. Kids and adults alike will marvel at these painstakingly assembled and composed photos, eagerly identifying the foods that make up the details of the landscapes. While the accompanying verse names some of the foods, which is good way to get kids to begin hunting for items in the images, it seems forced and awkward in several instances, serving only to detract from the featured landscape.

Good for one-on-one sharing or paired with titles such as Saxton Freymann’s Fast Food (2006) for a festive, food-themed storytime.