Simone Goes to the Market: A Children's Book of Colors Connecting Face and Food

by David Westerlund

(Bellingham: Applied Digital Imaging, 2008)

Paperback, 25 Pages, Children’s

ISBN: N/A, US$15.00

ABCD Rating: ACQUIRE

From the Cover: Newborns instinctively connect food and face. But as we grow up this connection erodes or even disappears. This book is my contribution to the strengthening of this connection for our little ones. My hope is that you and your little ones will rediscover the texture, joy, and meaning found in eating food from your neighbors. The story takes the reader with Simone to the local farmer’s market as she meets the farmers and buys fresh, colorful produce from them. My book is relevant for all ages—for infants learning to focus on faces, small children learning colors, kindergarteners learning to read, and all of us relearning the joy of eating locally.

My Review: We were in a local toy store the other day, doing some Christmas shopping for the kids and as I was purchasing everything, they had this book next to the register. We were already over budget for the kids’ presents that I wasn’t able to pick up a copy, but the next time we were at the library, lo and behold, there was a copy.

In the last four years or so (more or less since the birth of our son) we have tried to live a more sustainable lifestyle. We recycle, buy organic and natural, avoid companies like Nestlé, have tried to cut our carbon-footprint, and eating more locally. This was hard to do in Utah (it is not the most green-friendly state in the Union) but here in Bellingham we’ve found it much easy to try and live more sustainably and in an eco-friendly manner. Part of that has been frequenting the Bellingham Farmers Market whenever we could and getting our produce from a more local source. (We’re not perfect, yet but we have made great strides in changing the way we live.)

Now, bringing it back to Simone Goes to the Market, Westerlund’s book is simply marvelous. Our kids always loved being at the market, looking at all the produce, running up and down the walkways between the stalls, listening to the buskers, picking out treats for themselves and so now that the BFM is closed until April 2010, Simone Goes to the Market is a fun way to remind our kids about the fact that food should and does have a face more than just the checker’s at the local supermarket.

The photography (all of which was taken by Westerlund) is absolutely gorgeous and the colors are simply beautiful. My daughter loves looking at the brightly colored foods and my son, who has always been interested in growing food in the garden (and has been a great help to my wife as she manages our garden plot) has asked if we can plant purple pole beans or yellow patty pan squash in “our garden.” Thus, Simone Goes to the Market definitely passes the “Kid Test.” They have loved this book, and as for me, I too have fallen in love with this book.

As a fun little surprise, I was leafing through the book, and all of a sudden there was a picture of a friend of ours from the playgroup Alisa and the kids belong to who sells coffee at the Market.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you want a copy, and don’t live in the Bellingham area where you can go to the Market or one of the other local stores that carry Simone, then for a $3 shipping fee you can order a copy at the following email: david@faceandfood.com, and if it helps to seal the deal, 60% of the proceeds from the sale of Simone goes to: Food to Bank On, Growing Washington, Community to Community and Tierra Nueva’s Family Support Center.