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Children's Nonfiction Diet & Nutrition

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Weird Stuff You Didn't Know About Food

by (author) Frieda Wishinsky & Elizabeth MacLeod

illustrated by Travis King

Publisher
Scholastic Inc
Initial publish date
Feb 2008
Category
Diet & Nutrition
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780545003988
    Publish Date
    Feb 2008
    List Price
    $9.99

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 9 to 12
  • Grade: 4 to 7

Description

Did you know that radishes are a common breakfast food in Japan? Why do Americans love corn dogs? Do watermelons remove freckles? Can you really clean a toilet with a can of cola? Where does the expression "say cheese" come from? Did you know that in 1919 a molasses flood killed 21 people in Boston? What child isn't going to want to know the answers to these questions? Step into any school cafeteria and you'll hear kids buzzing about food. Everything but the Kitchen Sink builds on that fascination with food through history, science, art, superstitions, and world records. Organized in 10 fast-paced and fun chapters, Everything but the Kitchen Sink will present bite-size facts, interviews with fantastic "foodies," and amazing but true sidebars. Some recipes and activities are also included.

About the authors

 

Frieda Wishinsky
est l'auteure de plus de 40 livres pour enfants. Parmi les ouvrages déjà
parus, on peut citer, entre autres,

Ounga Bounga, Tu es méchante Lily-Ange!, Le sac à main de la reine,
Canada en vedette

et les romans de la série Catastrophe! Elle vit à Toronto, en
Ontario.

 

FRIEDA WISHINSKY has written over seventy books for children, including Oonga Boonga; You're Mean, Lily Jean; the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award winner Please, Louise!; the middle-grade series Survival, and the non-fiction books Explorers Who Made It . . . or died trying; Everything but the Kitchen Sink and Colossal Canada. Frieda lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband. Visit her online at www.friedawishinsky.com.

Frieda Wishinsky's profile page

Liz is one nosy author, which is why she loves writing non-fiction. She’s very curious about why people do what they do, and likes sharing with kids the amazing facts and secrets that she uncovers.As a kid in Thornhill, Ontario, the idea of being a writer never crossed Liz’s mind—she figured most authors were already dead and they definitely weren’t Canadian. Besides, it was science that interested Liz.But writing was already part of Liz’s life. After dinner on school nights, Liz and her two brothers would trudge up to their rooms, close their doors and start to do their homework—or so their parents thought. A few minutes later, a piece of paper would come sliding under Liz’s door. One of her brothers had drawn a picture, usually of some weird creature.Liz really couldn’t draw (still can’t!), so the only way she could respond was to write a short story, often about a mad scientist or space alien. She would slip the story under her brother’s door and—well, not a lot of homework got done.At university, Liz studied sciences—there was hardly any writing involved at all. But after university, she was hired as an editor at OWL magazine, where she could combine writing and her love of science. But it wasn’t long before Liz had a goal: to write a book. Her first one was about lions and since then she’s written more than fifty others.Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns (2008) is one of her favourite books because royalty has always fascinated Liz. She loved going behind the scenes with monarchs from Cleopatra to Dracula to find out just what they would do to hold onto power or protect their families.Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History’s Mysteries (2013) was the winner of numerous awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada 2014 Arthur Ellis Award in the Juvenile/YA category. Liz’s latest book with Annick Press, Galloping Through History: Incredible True Horse Stories (Spring 2015), combines, once again, her outstanding storytelling skills with her passion for history. This time her love of animals also shines through as she recounts the stories of six horses that changed the way humans live, travel, fight, work, and play.Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their cat Cosimo. While she writes, he is usually sprawled across her desk—often right on the book she needs for research!

Elizabeth MacLeod's profile page

Travis King's profile page

Awards

  • Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre
  • Winner, Red Cedar Award (BC Young Readers' Choice)
  • Short-listed, Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada - Information Book Award
  • Short-listed, OLA Silver Birch Award, Non-Fiction
  • Commended, Resource Links, Best of the Year

Librarian Reviews

Everything but the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn’t Know About Food

Future chefs and dieticians will find this fun and entertaining book about food a fascinating read. Topics include food through the ages; breakfast foods; traditions and superstitions about food; the science behind food; and records, inventions and trivia about food. Sidebars, recipes and activities are included to round out the fun!

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2011.

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Other titles by Elizabeth MacLeod

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