Have you met Herbert Peabody? If you haven’t, allow us to introduce this delightful character who will charmingly teach little ones about their food in the kids book Herbert Peabody and His Extraordinary Vegetable Patch. We met Herbert Peabody at Mulberry Tree Farm, where he tends to his big fruit and vegetable garden and supplies fresh food to the local area which he grows with a dash of magical singing, and it was all kinds of wonderful.

In Herbert Peabody and His Extraordinary Vegetable Patch, we follow the story of Herbie’s niece and nephew, Clementine and Digby, coming to stay at the same time that Theo Knead-a-lot’s famous bakery is in trouble. Clementine and Digby haven’t ever seen vegetables with dirt on them fresh from the ground, only the super clean shop versions, and Theo Knead-a-lot needs Herbie’s help to save his bakery. The two storylines come together to create a lovely story about children learning where their food comes from – incredibly important, I think! – as well as community spirit and helping others.

How did this book come about? Herbert Peabody author, Bianca Ross, noticed a disconnect between children and their understanding of where food comes from and set out to change that. “Studies have shown that if children get involved with growing and preparing fruit and vegetables at a young age, they’re more likely to try different food,” she says. Here at tiny & little, we couldn’t agree more about how important educating our children about the source of their food is. If you’ve ever seen the grin on a little one’s face as a cherry tomato warm from the sun explodes in their mouth, you’ll know that it is very rewarding and fun!

Herbert Peabody is aimed at children aged 4-9 years and is a character that children will enjoy relating to. Herbie makes gardening fun through song and his positive approach to food and eating will inspire them. Author, Bianca Ross has combined lovely descriptive language with the sweet illustrations of Tabitha Emma Bray to create a book that the little ones will want to devour in one sitting. Which is great, because once you’ve finished you can go back to the beginning and enjoy Herbert Peabody all over again!

Herbert Peabody and his extraordinary vegetable patch is available now and you can grab your copy here. Herbie also has his own website complete with notes that will help parents and teachers, gardening information and colouring in pages for the little ones to enjoy. Pop over and check it out here!

Herbert Peabody
Author: Bianca C. Ross
Illustrator: Tabitha Emma Bray
ISBN: 978-0-987595-50-8
Publisher: Farinet Pty Ltd
Distribution: Woodslane

tiny & little makes every effort to undertake reviews fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this review was not sponsored or paid for in any way, however we received a copy of this book for review purposes.