Choices are the most powerful way to communicate to others one’s convictions, passions, likes, or dislikes. Choices carry us through life either in a positive or negative way, and when it comes to eating food, it really is all about choices! Most children do not have an innate sense of making wise, healthy choices, but rely on what appeals to their sense of taste, what looks good, and their sense of smell. As a responsible caregiver, I need to help guide my children with their healthy eating choices by providing basic instructions, stories, games and making eating enjoyable. Reading the books Making Healthy Choices, A Story to Inspire Fit, Weight-Wise Kids by Marilee A.Kern was a wonderful way to inspire an open dialogue and discuss with my children that their food choices will always have an impact on their bodies.

There are two Making Healthy Choices, A Story to Inspire Fit, Weight-Wise Kids books: available in a girls’ edition and a boys’ edition. If your family is like ours, you will benefit from reading both books, as boys’ and girls’ bodies process food so very differently. Your child will follow 10-year-old Patty or Matt—depending on which book you are reading—on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly journey of eating. Patty and Matt will make positive or negative choices along the way regarding the food they eat, their emotions into how their bodies are feeling will be addressed, the influence of their families and peers, their ability to accomplish their goals, and their doctors concern for their overall health and well-being will be topics for discussions. These books are to be read with the child, and following the story, there are discussion questions in the back of each book. Also provided is a healthy-living tip sheet, which is a great resource for making positive lifestyle changes and, lastly, some fantastic recipes that will delight and appeal to any child. The cost for each book is $11.95.

These books could be used with preschool, with modifications, through upper-elementary-aged children, although the characters Patty and Matt are 10 yearsold. With the information these books provide on healthy lifestyles, good nutrition, emotions, exercise, and family values, one could easily incorporate these books into any health home-study curriculum. Some modifications may be necessary for younger children, such as helping them understand why Patty or Matt consume so many calories, their friends reactions with name calling, and the perseverance it takes to overcome the challenge of obesity. These books may appeal mostly to the audio learner, as the books are printed in black and white only and the paragraphs are a little lengthy for struggling readers or those that have a hard time focusing without moving.

My 5-year-old and 7-year-old did indeed enjoy listening to the story and following the journey of Patty, while my 10-year-old independently read the boys’ edition on his own. Both books provided an open-ended discussion as to a healthy lifestyle, making good choices, and the importance of good nutrition for our bodies. I am always looking for fun recipes to provide an opportunity for my kids to help with meal preparation, and the recipes in each book added some simple ways for them to explore new foods. The books could have been a little more appealing if the author would have incorporated color throughout the pictures, and the paragraphs are too lengthy for a beginning reader to attempt this book on their own. Overall, these are fun, lively books to discuss a very sensitive topic, such as obesity among children.

If you are looking for a simplistic way to teach making healthy choices to children, then these books will provide you with some great content. Further exploration will naturally happen along with an open dialogue between the reader and listener. Children have the power and ability to make healthy choices if given the right tools, instructions, and knowledge. I do recommend encouraging those children who are struggling with their weight or making healthy lifestyle choices to engage this story of Making Healthy Choices, A Story to Inspire Fit, Weight-Wise Kids. The results of a healthy lifestyle truly do lie in the power of our choices, so be that person to inspire positive change in kids!

-Product review by Pam Havens, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2017