Eat, Leo! Eat!

What a great story! Leo doesn’t want to eat when he joins the rest of the family for Sunday dinner at his Nonna’s home but his Nonna is clever and, each week, tells the next excerpt from a story about a boy going to visit his Nonna. She serves a different type of pasta with the meal each week and, every week the story involves something that connects to that type of pasta! Leo loves the stories and so looks forward to the next part of the story, eating up whilst he listens. After several weeks he comes to realise that he actually enjoys having his place at the family table and hearing his Nonna’s stories whilst eating her delicious food.

The book has beautiful, detailed illustrations throughout which relate to the story. At the beginning of the book some of the key Italian vocabulary used in the story is introduced with a guide to how to pronounce the words and their meanings. After the story ends there is further information on different types of pasta, again with illustrations to help understanding.

Educators could easily use this book to help introduce different culture and customs in families with different heritages, especially to Italian culture through both the language and foods mentioned in the story. Children could extend the story to include some of the different types of pasta at the end of the book, or have a go at making and eating some of these. They could also investigate other foods and language associated with other cultures and compose their own stories based on these as an alternative.

This is a delightful book that I have no hesitation in recommending - especially for enjoyment or as a starting point for further work with children!