For those of you who love healthy eating, and love to share this with children and the families around you, here are some of my favorite books for kids.

You might be surprised to learn that reading books about vegetables has an effect on children, but studies have shown that even three exposures to a storybook with a positive message about a vegetable can positively affect children’s preferences.

I’m planning to give all of these books as gifts this holiday season (no, I don’t get any endorsements-I’m just a book lover at heart)…and I know I’m looking forward to reading some of them as much as I hope my kids are!

(ps Send me your favorites, and I’ll add them to the list!)

Eating the Alphabet (Lois Ehrlert, Harcourt Brace, 1996) (preschoolers)

I Can Eat a Rainbow: A Fun Look at Healthy Foods and Vegetables (Annabel Karmel, Dorling Kindersley, 2009) (preschoolers)

Alexander and the Great Food Fight (Linda Hawkins, Heart to Heart, 2004) (5 to 8 years)

Did You Eat Your Vitamins Today? (Ena Sabih, Heart to Heart, 2011) (5 to 8 years)

The Vegetables We Eat (Gail Gibbons, Holiday House, 2007) (8 to 12)

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets behind What You Eat. Young Reader’s Edition (Michael Pollan, Dial, 2009) (teens)

Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food (Eric Schlosser, Houghton Mifflin, 2006) (teens)

Happy Reading!

ps In case you’re interested in the scientific studies I referred to above, here is a reference: E. Byrne and S. Nitzke, “Preschool Children’s Acceptance of a Novel Vegetable Following Exposure to Messages in a Storybook,” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 34 (2002): 211-214.