The Peanut-Free Cafe

This is a good book that shows how you can fix food everyone can eat.

The author does a good job of illustrating how a peanut allergy may affect others and offers up but one solution to the issues that arise. This is one of the better illustrated books on this topic with lively detail, colorful pages, and an upbeat text. I also feel compelled to adddress some of the other posts. Peanut butter is not, in fact, and ingredient in many, most, or some chili recipes. Peanut butter is, in fact, an ingredient in a *few* chili recipes. A quick search of www.cooksrecipes.com shows NO recipes including peanut butter. Out of 100 or more. None. It took an effort to even find more than 5 on a google search. The purple lollipop Simon brings to lunch is more likely to be contaminated than the chili is. Additionally, not all peanut allergic children are advised to avoid beans. While beans are a legume (as are peanuts and peas) statistically children are more likely to be allergic to tree nuts instead of beans. Tree nuts are not related to a peanut in any way, shape, or form. With more than 3 million Americans allergic to peanuts, if beans were such a problem you'd think we'd hear about it nearly as often as peanuts. (Soy notwithstanding. We're talking kidney beans here.) Also, as far as schools allowing children to carry their Epi-pens in their backpacks, many schools MUST do so by law. For me, it was the *requirement* by my local school that children carry their own Epi-pen in KINDERGARTEN that led me to homeschooling. Of course, the Epi-pens had to be in a locked box, but the child was being taught "responsibility" by carrying the box from place to place. Why is it that people expect stories about a peanut allergy to be non-fiction? I have news for you, Grant and Simon are fictional. In fact, the Nutley School is FICTIONAL! Realistic to have movies during lunch? Perhaps not, but fiction generally is FICTIONAL. Doesn't the author get points for even getting the word out? For educating the public? For encouraging a "reduce the risk" solution (since we all know that completely eliminating the risk is unrealistic)? Do you want the entire non-allergic world to become absolutely convinced that everyone with a peanut allergy is unforgiving, neurotic, controlling, and UNREASONABLE? Before you jump to conclusions, I am the mother to a 6 1/2 year old who is anaphylactic to peanuts. She almost died during her first and only reaction at the age of 20 months. She is bi-phasic, asthmatic, and has eczema (if you know your stuff, you'll know all of these raise the probability of a fatal reaction). We do not eat in restaurants, she has never even been in a bakery, our home is COMPLETELY peanut free (even from 'may contains'), all candy consumed comes from Vermont Nut-Free Chocolates, all cookies, cakes & breads are homemade, we keep EIGHT Epi-pens at all times, and I homeschool. I am NOT one to take this lightly and, of all the people I know, I am the most militant about this allergy. Give the author a break a

One of the most interesting thing about Gloria Koster's peanut allergy picture book is its choice to make the main character a child without a peanut allergy. Kids with peanut allergies already know how important and inconvenient it is to avoid peanuts. By showing the growing understanding of the problem from the point of view of an "outsider," Peanut-Free Cafe allows every child to learn about peanut allergies and gain perspective about the difficulties of others who suffer this problem. With lively illustrations and a clever story, this book's educational value is only icing on the cake!

I read this book to my Kindergartner's class this week to prepare them for a peanut free table in the first grade lunchroom. They were silent and engaged the whole time - all of them. The teachers said it was an excellent book and that all the kids in the school should hear it. The message is great - a little allergy information and then a lot of how to be a good friend to a kid with allergies. The writing is intelligent and the illustrations are on par with current quality kid's titles. This is a great book to read at the beginning of a school year - it highlights the need for a peanut free table in the lunchroom and how to make it fun. I'm buying more copies for the library and for friends with allergy kids at other schools.

The Peanut Free Cafe is a very fun book to read! It teaches kids a lot about dealing with allergies in a caring way. The students in the book are regular elementary school students like in our school cafeteria. The way they deal with a new friend's allergies is great. I wish my school had a peanut free cafe. I would definately sit there everyday!