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The author uses quality clipart to illustrate the book, alliterative chapter titles like “I am an Olympic Orange”, with the exception of the first chapter about Magic Apple, and first person narrative from the viewpoint of each fruit. The first-person narrative from this viewpoint and the alliterative titles is appropriate for younger children and could be engaging, but the facts included seem to be addressing a much older audience at times. After all, I don’t think many children are concerned with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or cataracts. If the target audience is younger children, then developing it as a high level picture book with simplified (not dumbed down) information and original artwork would be beneficial. It should just address the issues important to younger children. If the target audience is middle-grade or higher, then the first person narrative from the fruit’s viewpoint will probably not engage the target audience. The author should use language, images and style focused to the ideal reader and with pertinent information for the age group.
Thejendra focuses on fruit for healthy eating, and while fruit is an important part of any diet, it is only part. In the preface, the author promises parents to help their children eat healthy meals. This means appropriate portions from all the food groups. It would be great to see this developed with families of foods, stressing the importance of a balanced approach to eating to help achieve optimum health and well-being without resorting to excessive promises.
In the preface, Thejendra resorts to hyperbole to convince parents to purchase the book. This includes negating the information provided by nutrition experts, and even calling books on child psychology useless. This, in my opinion, affects the credibility of the author, which is a shame, because it is obvious he has done his research on the benefits of the different fruits. As difficult as this was for me to accept, I am more concerned about the exaggerations directed to the children. For instance, in the Magic Apple section, the apple tells children that if they eat him they will “never forget your homework and will also be able to answer all questions in your class and exams. You will quickly become the hero or heroine of your class.” While the fruit will definitely help, it is misleading to say that it is a magic study aid which will result in perfect scores. Once again, the author’s credibility comes into question.
Finally, this is exacerbated in the author’s bio included with the book. While it is obvious that the bio is in jest, for a non-fiction book it should stick to the actual credentials. Stating that the author has won several Nobel prizes etc. does not reflect a serious nor professional approach to a serious topic.
Since this is already for sale at Amazon and Smashwords, without an adequate ability for potential buyers to sample the book, I have to give it only 1 out of 4. Which is a shame because the author does know his topic. If he were to expand to include all the food groups, focus on a specific audience, and give the facts in an engaging and honest way, it would be a valuable resource for parents. As it is, I would not recommend it.
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