The concept for my book “I’d Rather Eat Chocolate” came to me during 2022 after I lost my job as a result of the Covid pandemic.
I had a year of ‘semi-retirement’ and used my time to fulfill my passion for writing.
As someone who has a keen interest in health and nutrition generally, I had, over the years, noticed a distinct increase in the availability of ultra-processed, sugary, high-fat convenience foods on the market aimed at children.
With more processed foods, a child’s palate (and an adult’s!) can easily become more addicted to sugars and the chemicals in high-fat, processed foods designed to trick our tastebuds into believing these foods are good – all while they have a negative impact on the health, well-being and energy of our children.
As a parent who juggled work with family, I acknowledge that it can be challenging to successfully encourage our kids to eat veggies. Once a child gets a taste for processed or sugary foods, is exposed to media advertising and what other children might be eating, it can become more and more of a battle to get our fussy eaters to eat up their veggies – I mean…. wouldn’t we all rather eat chocolate?
My many years as a paediatric speech pathologist, and more recently, as a literacy tutor, influences my writing to include exploration of vocabulary classes and sub-classes, rhyming (an important early literacy skill), and memory/recall – so I find that educators and parents are avid supporters of this book while children love the fun of the narrative and illustrations. But it’s not all about the fun, as ‘I’d Rather Eat Chocolate’ carries an important message around the benefits of eating vegetables. Children will learn which animals enjoy each vegetable and what characteristics those vegetables contribute to.
Most of all, I wanted to create a fun, vibrant book that parents/carers/educators and children fall in love with and want to read over and over again.
May you all enjoy reading ‘I’d Rather Eat Chocolate’.
