Leslie Patricelli didn’t keep junk food in the house when her three kids were toddlers, but the goofy, bald baby in her board book “Yummy Yucky” grins from ear to ear over chocolate sauce and cookies.
The prolific picture book writer also included pepperoni pizza as a positive, acknowledging in a recent interview that some of her empty calorie imagery for kids too young to seek out sugary and fatty foods on their own have earned her a kvetch or two from parents.
“If I were to do it again I would probably make a few different choices, but I don’t think I would leave everything out,” said Patricelli, in Hailey, Idaho. “All you have to do is watch a kid eat a piece of cake to know that they’re in heaven.”
Heaven, indeed, especially when it comes to an abundance of frothy pink cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and candy in books aimed squarely at babies, toddlers and preschoolers who may not be intimate with the meaning of moderation.
But some authors and publishers are focused on creating alternatives to c-is-for-cupcake picture books for parents struggling to promote broccoli. Even Cookie Monster sometimes eats smarter, chowing down on celery and demonstrating smaller portions of his namesake treats in “Ding Dong, Elmo’s Here!” and other books from the folks on “Sesame Street.”
“Food is everywhere kids turn,” said Betsy Loredo, executive editor for Sesame Workshop’s publishing group. “So it’s natural for us to want to think of ways we can integrate that and make choices that are healthier. We try to go for at least equity.”
“Sesame Street,” with an appearance by obesity fighter and first lady Michelle Obama, took on nutrition and exercise as an initiative back in 2004. The effort expanded to other divisions and special projects that included distribution of kits to six million families and child care centers offering ways to eat healthy on a budget and educate parents on the difference between “sometime food” and “anytime food.”
With the childhood obesity rate tripling in the past 30 years to 1 in 3 children in the United States overweight or obese, books with healthy eating pictures and messages may not be everything, but they’re something, advocates said.
Sesame Workshop, for instance, concluded in a 2010 study that when children are shown fruits and vegetables linked with favorite characters from the show they choose those foods at a much higher rate and eat more of them, according to Sesame researcher Jennifer Kotler.
Even broccoli, she laughed.
“Something happens between 3 and 5 where there’s a growing awareness of what healthy means. Where 3-year-olds like the foods they like, 5-year-olds know things they might choose might not always be the healthiest,” Kotler said. 
David Goldbeck in Woodstock, N.Y., isn’t an absolutist, but he does care about what kids see in their books when it comes to food. He wants more of them to eat fruits and vegetables, so he co-wrote an alphabet book that puts broccoli and yams in equally healthy company.
The Michigan Fitness Foundation, which is home to that state’s Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports, uses Goldbeck’s “The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond” in take-home book bags that are part of a health literacy program in more than 400 public elementary schools, said Marci Kelly Scott, the organization’s vice president for health programs.
The book includes an alphabet format with illustrations (E is for eggplant!) but also history, fun facts and recipes for older kids. Scott ordered 500 of the books in 2008 and routinely reorders to keep up her supplies.
In this alphabet world, C is for carrots, D is for date, as in the “desert fruit found in Kuwait,” and O is for organic.


Two dining areas were set up in the spacious home, where tables were decorated in a black and white damask design, contrasted by red roses.

The go-to beverage of Cinco de Mayo is now available in dessert form. Margarita cupcakes are the latest offering from Scottsdale cupcake shop Sprinkles. The tangy little number with key lime-tequila cake capped by key lime frosting and sprinkled with salt is available May 3-5 at the bakery, 4501 N. Scottsdale Road.

We were married on St. Patrick’s Day at the Foothills Golf Club. The wedding was beautiful, everyone had a wonderful time, the pictures came out great — best wedding a couple could ask for. If it wasn’t for the Ahwatukee community; however, our day would have been a disaster.

You wouldn’t think $3.50 cupcakes would catch on in a recession, but Sprinkles Cupcakes did just that. Opened in 2008 at Scottsdale and Camelback roads, the sweet shop is celebrating its fifth anniversary by giving away something fans of its cupcakes can’t even get in Arizona: Sprinkles brand ice cream.

Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” hasn’t just motivated viewers to indulge in the sweet treat. The TV show has inspired Mesa culinary instructor Amee Hoge to host a similar cupcake challenge of her own but with a twist — it’s just for kids.

Feeling like you should do something for St. Patrick’s Day but missed Saturday’s downtown parade or don’t fancy a drive all the way to Fountain Hills for a spray of green water?

Fourteen local restaurants are coming together on Saturday to help raise money for Mountain View Lutheran’s youth ministries and to give guests a taste of Ahwatukee.

Siobhan Silks

When I told my mother — a fiend for candied ginger — that I was testing a batch of these muffins, she said she wished she could fly right over and dig in. She’s not the only one.

When I told my mother — a fiend for candied ginger — that I was testing a batch of these muffins, she said she wished she could fly right over and dig in. She’s not the only one.

When I told my mother — a fiend for candied ginger — that I was testing a batch of these muffins, she said she wished she could fly right over and dig in. She’s not the only one.

Gigi’s Cupcakes, a popular cupcake store from Nashville, Tenn., is making its way to the Phoenix market with its first location in Ahwatukee Foothills.

If you’re throwing a baby shower for a relative or friend, creating a suitably festive atmosphere is part of the fun.

It sounds like an unfolding epidemic: A decade ago, virtually no one in the U.S. seemed to have a problem eating gluten in bread and other foods. Now, millions do.

"General Hospital" -- now reaping the most nominations at this year's Daytime Emmy Awards -- has gone from bust to boom.

Maybe you don’t know Howard Stern as well as you thought.

Tina Hakimi graduated from Mountain Pointe with a love of math and science but thought she would pursue a career in marketing. A quick conversation with her parents made her realize that obviously wasn’t the best fit for her. Now studying biomedical engineering at Arizona State University, Hakimi has a soft spot for kids who might not be able to have that same discussion with their own parents and realize where their talent lies.

These are not your girlfriend's cupcakes. There is no frilly pastel frosting piped on top. They are not delicate. They are not pretty.

These are not your girlfriend's cupcakes. There is no frilly pastel frosting piped on top. They are not delicate. They are not pretty.