Happy Friday, and welcome to another installment of the monthly feature at Bewitched Bookworms where we review Children’s books.
Kylie’s Special Treat: A Food Allergy Fairy Tale
by Letizia Barbetta
(Amazon)
Hardcover, 18 pages–Ages 2 and up
Published by Second Street Publishing LLC, May 2012
Illustrated by Wendy Sefcik (Amazon)
Copy received at BEA 2012
A sweet fairy tale of a girl who loves to paint and dreams of the prince she once knew. One day she receives an invitation to make the prince a special treat. With some magical help, she happily bakes him her favorite dessert. Of course, it doesn’t include any of the foods she’s allergic to (milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts).
Kylie shows the reader how she manages her food allergies with poise and confidence, follows her dreams and goes on to live happily ever after.
Whimsical and colorful illustrations make this supportive story a fun read for all, especially food-allergic children.
Book includes a simple baking recipe, food allergy tips and resources for adults.
A portion of the proceeds from each book sold will be donated to FAAN for food allergy research.
My Thoughts:
We are no strangers to allergies in my household, and I’ve experienced firsthand over my lifetime what it’s like when people that don’t have allergies just don’t grasp the severity of your condition really is. I have food allergies, and my son has the same food allergies that I do. In Kylies Special Treat: A Food Allergy Tale, you’re introduced to Kylie, a beautiful painter who is severely allergic to eggs, milk, and nuts. When she’s invited to the Prince’s birthday ball, where she has to bring a baked good for him as a gift, Kylie takes that opportunity to make her favorite dessert made with ingredients that she’s not allergic to. The Prince will pick his favorite out of all the desserts to be declared one of the new “Official Foods of the Kingdom.”
Following the classic fairy tale structure of regular girl becomes a princess when the prince falls for her after choosing her cookies, this book presents a fun and realistic look at what it’s like for children (and adults like me) with severe food allergies. From having to carry EpiPens and benadryl with you everywhere, to making sure that you have lists of everything that you are allergic to and your emergency contact information handy, to just explaining why some people can’t eat the same things as everyone else, Kylie’s Special Treat really shines a light on our special lifestyle. Whenever someone huffs or gives me a look for sending something back because there are raw tomatoes or shellfish on the food, I would really just love to hand them this book to give them a great overview of what they need to know about food allergies. The illustrations are in full, vibrant color, and they really bring this tale to life.
This book includes the recipe for Kylie’s Sugar Cookies (which are milk-, egg-, and nut-free) and several useful links to learn more about food allergies.
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
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Great choice, Heather!!! So many kids have allergies these days. It’s nice to see it being discuss in a kid accessible way. 🙂
Pushy recently posted..Bewitched Kids Corner {5} Kylie’s Special Treat by Letizia Barbetta
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This sounds wonderful. My children have no food luckily. This should be in every school library. Thank you for sharing it..
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Heather this sounds like a great book to introduce kids to food allergies! It’s such a real issue these days. I have a good friend at my son’s school that I’ve known since he was in 1st grade (he’s in 7th now) and her son is very allergic to peanuts. So in the cafeteria, there is a peanut free table so he can sit safely away from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich eaters. The school serves nothing with peanuts in it. But of course, wheat, dairy, eggs, those are even harder to avoid. What a difficult life that must be. But it is nice that children learn at an early age about epi pens and allergies.
Heather
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