Food Allergies and Me: A Children's Book

We absolutely love this book. Recently, my 2 1/2 year old son had a really bad reaction to coconut given to him by his babysitter, where we ended up at the hospital. Since then, we've been talking about his allergies, but I felt we were missing something in what we had to convey to him. We mostly said, you're allergic to coconut and nuts and you cannot eat them. However, this book covers everything, and it makes the subject fun and relatable: the main character is a food detective and talks about ways to keep safe with food allergies (like not sharing food, washing hands, school scenarios). It also helps explain what an allergic reaction is, and how it might feel. It has become one my son's favorite books, and we even read it to his friends and cousins too. It's a great resource to help educate the other little people in his life, himself and adults. I really recommend this book to people in a similar situation with a toddler with food allergies.

If you have food-allergic kids or teach pre-K or lower elementary grades, I highly recommend having a copy of this in your library. It's the best book out there for educating young children about food allergies.My two kids, 6 and 3, have multiple food allergies. I found this book's simple language and amount of information to be perfect for my 3-year-old who knows that he has food allergies but still isn't quite so savvy enough to avoid potentially dangerous situations.The book was helpful to my veteran 6-year-old because it reiterates very important rules: never share food, always have mom or dad check labels, and always tell a grown-up if you feel sick. Like other reviewers, I also appreciate how the boy's allergies are simply one aspect of his life. Everyone (allergies or not) has something different about them.Last thing, I love that the book was written in first person. Very kid-friendly and read like a true story. It resonated with my kids because it is a reflection of their lives with food allergies.-Irene

I was looking for a book that explained food allergies on a preschooler level to read to my daughter's pre-k class. I searched forever for a book that got to the point but did not scare the living daylights out of the children with shots and ambulance rides, etc. This book takes the reader through a day in the life of a child with food allergies. It is witty and explains to the child why they it is important to be a "food detective" to ensure the safety of the product. I found it helpful that it explains why children with food allergies have to have a special snack to be certain it is allergen free. Simply put it got to the point, explained that food allergies could make the person sick, and ended with everyone is unique and children with food allergies are not wierd just that they have to do other things to make sure they stay safe just like everyone else. I highly recommend this book for little ones!

My son has FPIES (a rare type of food allergy) to multiple foods and some are unusual (he is allergic to rice and oats, which are usually safe). I was looking for a book that didn't just tell him to avoid foods with a particular type of allergen, but one that gave some basic guidelines about living with allergies, that a two year old could understand and internalize. This book is great. The main character has 3 allergies and it covers all the basics - asking mom/dad before eating something, hand washing, not sharing food, not hiding a reaction, allergy testing and it does it in a way that makes allergies seem like a normal part of life, not something to be upset or anxious about. I love it! I highly recommend this book to any parent who is trying to help their child understand what it means to have allergies, I think it would also be good for kids who have friends or family members with allergies.

I bought this book to teach about food allergies in our homeschool preschool co-op and it was great EXCEPT that the pictures didn't fill the Kindle screen so the kids had to huddle close and take turns looking. Other than that was perfect because it covered all aspects of a child's life with food allergies. Thorough and cute!

Simply amazing. We've been looking for a book to read to my child about his food allergies. There're others but this one was wonderful as the main character has multiple food allergies, not just peanuts (seems that's the allergy of choice for children's books). Our son has autism so doesn't understand his allergies at all, but I'm excited for this book. We also brought it in and showed it to his preschool teacher for next year, and she was amazed. They're ordering it for the entire district for preschool and elementary classrooms. It presents the allergies in a way that is helpful, and informative without being super scary. Perfect for kids.

My grandson has a food allergy to peanuts and recently had an adverse reaction which necessitated another trip to the hospital and use of his epi pen. He just turned 5 and he needed to know he has to practice awareness in the event he is with others who are not aware of food allergies and don't ask the kids before serving items. He enjoyed this book quite a lot and asked for me to read it to him several times. He now knows he has to ask "are there any peanuts in this food?" before eating snacks at events that are in school, sports, classes, etc. and he has to not share food. This book helps open that dialog.

Bought this for a friend whose son was diagnosed with a bad milk allergy, and she cried when she read it to him.

Brilliant. My 4 year old loves it and she has taken to preschool for teachers to read to kids and they said its a really good book for the kids.

Helpful & cute

I liked this book, clear and easy to read, ideal for young childrenRemoves the stigma children sometimes associate with allergies

Really well done for our kindergarten age child.