24th January Peanut Butter Day

It's Peanut Butter Day. Peanut butter isn't as popular now as it was when I was a child and every child had a peanut butter or vegemite sandwich for lunch. In fact at the school I teach at you cannot have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch as we have so many children who are allergic to peanut products. So today you may not be able to eat peanut butter, but you can read and enjoy this book, Peanut Butter and Cupcake! by Terry Border. Here Peanut Butter goes in search of a friend...


"But sometimes friends are hard to come by, especially when Hamburger has to walk his (hot) dogs, Cupcake is too busy building castles in her sprinkle box, and Egg laughs so hard he starts to crack up! Does Peanut Butter have a soulmate? Young readers will know the answer long before Peanut Butter does and laugh along with each mismatched pairing.
In a story that pairs silliness with poignancy, and friendship with anthropomorphic food, Terry Border, the photography mastermind behind the Bent Objects project, makes a triumphant entrance into the children's book world. Complete with a rhyming refrain, this is sure to be a favorite family read-aloud--and laugh-aloud."

17th May Food Allergy Awareness Week

At the school where I teach there are enough children with food allergies to warrant the staff having extra training in anaphylaxis and the library including books that will help teachers educate their students and books that will raise parental awareness of the issue. While the most common food allergy at school seems to be nuts there are also children who are allergic to eggs, wheat or dairy products. We have been lucky because often the appropriate books are supplied to the library by the parent of a child with allergies. We got books such as Alexander and his Pals Visit the Main Street School which is part of a series of books which is published by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network in this way. It has a list of very useful rules in it for children with allergies.

Two other fiction books in the library which are stories that deal with nut allergies are:

• The Peanut-Free Cafe by Gloria Koster

• The Princess and the Peanut Allergy by Wendy McClure

For information books that are good to start discussions with children, I have found these useful:

• My Friend has Allergies by Nicola Edwards (Chrysalis Children's Books)

• Aniel has a Food Allergy by Jillian Powell (Evans)

• It's Not Catching: Allergies Angela Royston (Heinemann)

• Why Do My Eyes Itch? and other questions about allergies by Angela Royston (Heinemann)