Chew Chew the Food Chain Train

By Janet Michelson

A Message to Parents, Teachers, and Healthcare Professionals
The health of today’s children is in decline. If the current trend continues, one out of every three children born in this century will develop diabetes in his or her lifetime. In addition to that, other autoimmune diseases are becoming the newest epidemic. Adult diseases such as high blood pressure and cardiac problems are now found in children at rates not previously recorded. The foods we eat—not just the types of food, but also how they are produced—are having a dramatic impact on our health. Through this series of books children get the information and skills needed to maintain optimal health throughout their lives.
Each book will address one simple concept so that children can incorporate new information into their general consciousness and daily lives while having fun reading. Children will find themselves choosing a salad or apple slices instead of French fries, water instead of a sugared drink, orange slices instead of a cookie. Chew Chew makes learning fun because she doesn’t lecture. She redirects the children as a friend—not an adult.
Future topics include:
•Planting a garden and composting
•Enjoying the Farmer’s market
•Learning about My Plate guidelines and school lunches, with a special guest helping to teach the children about nutrition
•Creating healthy snacks and meals
•Learning about special diets such as diabetic, gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janet Michelson
• Release date: Apr 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301920532

Janet Michelson

Janet Michelson has a master’s of science degree in occupational therapy. Writing and publishing books is her latest career, but she has also worked as a floral designer, dishwasher, cook, receptionist, and a trainer for developmentally disabled adults. She has worked in various capacities in healthcare for over 20 years. As an occupational therapist she worked in rehab, specializing in the treatments of vertigo, brain injury, and chronic pain. Observations of the long term effects of diet on the health of older adults led her to research the foods we eat. The damage was already done for her elderly patients, but Janet resolved to help educate young children in order to preserve health throughout the lifespan. She is publishing a series of children’s picture books based on Chew Chew the Food Chain Train, the main character. The train is made entirely from fruits and vegetables, and she teaches children how the food they eat can help or harm their health. Janet lives in the Midwest with her loving husband, Grampa Joe. Together they have four adult children and five grandchildren. Janet has always loved reading and now enjoys writing and publishing her own books. Registered as an English major in college when she was a high school senior, she decided to follow other interests, and now feels she has happily come full circle in her return to books as an indie author and freelance editor.

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Reviews for Chew Chew the Food Chain Train

[liaburres · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Spoiler Alert!!!To all parents, teachers and health care professionals this book is absolutely the best tool for teaching children about eating healthy and making it right. It's a darn shame that this type of thing don't exist here. A set of grandparents are taking their grandchildren out to eat. When asked what they'd like to eat, the boy responded with chicken nuggets and the girl wants fries. The two grandparents decide they are going to ride their bikes to go out to eat. They arrive at a place called "Chew-Chew the Food Chain Train Restaurant".As soon as they sit down, a small train comes chugging into the room where they are seated. On the train, they can choose from several types of foods. The train comes around to the tables. The train even carries the plates and utensils. From fruits, veggies and nuts, this train carries it all. The granddaughter then decided to have a salad with many different types of veggies and the boy decided to have a fruit salad for their meal.This is just a way to sum it up...maybe a few spoilers, but not all of them.I highly recommend this for those that have children that don't want to try out new foods or will NOT eat healthy no matter what you've tired. If you have to, set up a play train and put some foods on it while you all sit around the table and the train circles the middle of the table with the food on each little car. NOTE: Try getting the type of train that has the bowl type cars and big enough to hold a bit of each thing you're serving that night. Make their dinner night a bit of fun.

[fdholt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This review was written for LibraryThing Member GiveawayChew, Chew, the food chain train, is a children’s picture book written by Janet Michelson, a therapist who is interested in the prevention of chronic disease. The book discusses the healthy choices that can be made; instead of fries and chicken nuggets, healthier foods. The children in the story go to a restaurant with their grandparents where the waiter is a train made of fruits and vegetables. The two children choose foods from the train that are nutritious and delicious.The book is a typical picture book with color illustrations that should appeal to the pre-K through 1st grade group with a short sentence under each picture. However the reading level necessary to read the book would be about 3rd or 4th grade. So this would have to be a book read by an adult or older sibling to a young child, which defeats the purpose of the book. I had my two harshest critics, one 9 and one 12, read the book. They felt the concept of the train was too childish for their age group. The author needs to decide what age group she is targeting and have the illustrations match the text for that group.The boys also caught on that the book only covered fruits and vegetables (though peas which is commonly considered a grain or bread was listed as a vegetable) and asked where the milk, grains (complex carbohydrates) and protein were. To be fair, there were nuts on the train (which is considered to be a protein). Did the children use dressing? The book doesn’t say but in the old food pyramid used by the USDA, fats are listed and they are extremely important for health in very small amounts. Eliminating all fats leads to some unpleasant health problems. And why did they not have a glass of skim milk?There is a short bibliography at the back of the book for parents. It includes information that will be presented in forthcoming books. However she misses one of the most important: the USDA’s MyPlate website. The list is dominated by films and videos which might not be easy to obtain instead of basic reference sources like The Yale guide to children's nutrition, The Columbia encyclopedia of nutrition and The encyclopedia of nutrition and good health along with many other books that are available in public libraries.There is a great need for books that teach children the basics of nutrition. Michelson has a good idea and needs to refine it, both for children and parents.

[hillgirl_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this to my 5 year old grandson and he really seemed to enjoy it. He was fascinated by the pictures while I thought the whole concept was really good. It taught the food groups and it was good about making sure that the children knew what was good for them. The illustration was marvelous. The words were so easy for him to read a few by himself which is very important with kids of his age. Thank you so much for putting a book out there that I believe every age can learn from.

[maryann12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an agreeable addition to children's nutritional information. In simple, straight-forward terms, the reader can gain a better understanding of the relationship between eating and health.Kids will be attracted by the amusing color illustrations on every page. The book is written ESPECIALLY for kids. Chew Chew the Food Chain Train is highly recommended for every child.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Chew Chew the food chain train by Janet MichelsonIllustrated colorful children's book showing the day the kids go with their grandparents for a meal. The kids want fries and chicken nuggets and the adults want fruits and vegetables.At the beginning of the book it gives you ideas on how make gardens and eat healthy.They ended up at the chew chew train restaurant. The train delivered plates and silverware and told them to help themselves to the banquet. It had all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables that they could choose from.Shows many choices of what they want, salad and berries.