Food Fight, by Alex Latimer, (March 2023, Kane Miller), $15.99, ISBN: 9781684644957
Ages 4-7
Mushroom and Grape are best friends, but theirs is a forbidden friendship: vegetables and fruits just don’t like each other. Things get pretty heated between the two groups, so Mushroom and Grape sneak off to figure out how to bring their two groups together, and Mushroom has a suggestion: seek out the Wise Old Cheese, long rumored to be at the top of the fridge where no one goes. The friends go on an epic journey to seek his wisdom and bring it back to heal the long-simmering feud. Filled with food puns, this story is all about friendship and conflict resolution, with a colorful cast of expressive fruits and vegetables. Googly white eyes and stick arms and legs make the cartoony foods as fun as they are recognizable. Front endpapers show the two food groups at odds with one another: Carrot and Banana face off with boxing gloves, Banana sporting a black eye; Cucumber threatens Orange with a grater, and Mushroom and Grape stand sadly in the middle of the fray. On the back endpapers, all is well: bathing suit-clad Pineapple and ONion frolic through a sprinkler; Pear paints a portrait of Potato, Orange presents Cucumber with a birthday cake, and Mushroom and Grape happily wave to the reader, arms wrapped around each other. A cute additional purchase where friendship and kindness stories (like the Summer Reading Theme, All Together Now!) do well.
Mom Read It 