How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods - by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

• Hardback - All Ages; 48 pages
• Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches

Feeling happy? Hopeful? Overjoyed? Or maybe you're angry today? Or just a little anxious? Whatever your mood, you're bound to feel 48 times as good after looking at this astounding new picture book.

On each page, laid out in signature crisp style, are wild food sculptures that embody each emotion more fluidly and expressively than any human face could. The text is simple and funny, designed to start a conversation between adult and child about feelings - call it eggplant empathy, call it laughing at limes.

Join the legion of families who've already learned the delights of this pantry gone mad, and hailed the creators as the Picasso of Pumpkins, the Rodin of Rutabagas, the Calder of Cabbages.

About The Authors

Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers are the produce prestidigitators behind the wildly popular Play With Your Food and Play With Your Pumpkins

Saxton Freymann is a talented artist and writer who lives with his wife Mia Galison and their three children in New York City. Sax and Mia create award-winning children's toys and gifts for their company, eeBoo Corporation.

Joost Elffers is the creative force behind such innovative books as The Secret Language of Birthdays and The 48 Laws of Power. He describes himself as an early Montessori graduate who has happily remained in kindergarten for most of his publishing life.

Editorial Reviews

"Who hasn't looked at a fruit or vegetable and seen a funny face? In How Are You Peeling? - by the creator of the whimsical Play with Your Food - the "natural personalities" of produce are enhanced with black-eyed pea eyes and the occasional carved mouth - then photographed in vivid colors. One page reveals a wistful-looking poblano pepper being comforted by a cheerful red tomato, while another shows the amused, confused, frustrated, and surprised expressions of a green pepper, red pepper, orange, and apple. Adults and children alike will marvel at the range of expressions these fruits and vegetables possess - did you know just how many faces a kiwi could have? With simple rhymed text describing the emotions ("How are you when friends drop by?/ With someone new ... a little shy?"), this appealing picture book is bound to spark discussion with young children. Parents can use it to talk about different emotions or to help children to identify and articulate their mood of the moment. Adults will just plain be amused." -- From Amazon.com

"Photos of scowling oranges and gregarious scallions garnish this garden of delights from the creators of Play with Your Food. The recipe is simple and successful. Freymann and Elffers find a piece of "expressive produce" and attach two black-eyed peas for eyes. Without further ado, the veggie becomes a face, with a knobby stem or skinny root for a schnozzola; an upended mushroom has a hilarious piglike snout, while a kiwi fruit has a button nose. The animated groceries are exhibited, actual size or larger, against crisp hues of harvest gold, melon green or late-night-sky blue. Their groupings imply close relationships: lemons trade meaningful glances and a little onion cries. Meanwhile, the rhyming text draws comparisons between the emotive plants and its audience when it queries, "Wired? Tired? Need a kiss? / Do you know anyone like this?" The plotless and largely superfluous narrative recommends expressing jealousy or affection ("When how you feel is understood,/ you have a friend, and that feels good"). It's a sentiment as healthy as an apple a day, but the book's real charm is derived from the almost-ready-made "sculptures" as an afterword calls them. This wish-I'd-thought-of-that compendium provides an excellent impetus for a craft session: the ingredients are cheap, and mistakes can be eaten as salad (if artists have the heart)." - From Publishers Weekly