FAT TALE, written and illustrated by Karen Land, is a picture book that will help children focus on good nutrition. Not long ago, a chubby child meant a healthy child. Today, obesity is our nation’s fastest growing health problem. Our children are experiencing a nationwide epidemic of poor eating habits. The good news is for the most part, obesity is preventable. Planting the seeds of good nutrition at an early age is a fundamental preventative measure.
Fat Tale is an educational story showing the pitfalls of overeating. Using the empathy children have for animals, the story tells how a cute little frog gets into big trouble by becoming addicted to junk food. Gorf, the children’s name for him, becomes so fat from eating sugary cereal, fries, and other scraps of fast food he can not dive down to the bottom of the pond to hibernate. Winter is coming and he will freeze. The children realize that they are lethargic and grossly overweight, too. A healthy diet of real food is adopted by all.
This book will interest children in pre-school through third grade. It can be used as a supplemental text to introduce a health lesson and by concerned parents who want to teach their children about the perils of poor eating habits.
Karen Land is a School Media Specialist and has worked in the field of library service for more than 30 years. She has written for School Library Journal and is a member of The Children’s Book Council.
Karen Land has been a Children’s Librarian for more than twenty-five years. She has worked as a School Librarian, a Children’s Librarian and an Adult Reference Librarian. Karen Land has appeared on NBC, CBS and Long Island News Channel 12 for her outstanding program, “Read with Me—Not TV” which encouraged children to try a week with no TV viewing. Her program “Books For All” received over 3,000 donations of new and gently used books which were given to all the elementary students in her school. She is a veteran storyteller and puppeteer. The author/illustrator lives with her husband and 2 cats on a salt marsh in Eastern Long Island.