The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis

What is your favorite kind of cereal?  The Great American Cereal Book documents this quintessentially American invention from its very first ready-to-eat cold and boxed appearance in 1863 (Granula) through the present, with a focus on varieties produced by Kellogg’s, Post, General Mills, and their ilk.  Most cereal entries contain the name of the cereal, its producer, the start and end date of production, notable spokescharacters, and interesting facts.  The more familiar (Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes) are all here along with the obscure (Freakies, Quisps, Klondike Pete’s Crunchy Nuggets, Barbie Fairytopia.)  Occasional features are sprinkled throughout on topics like Marbits (freeze-dried marshmallows found in cereals like Lucky Charms), the origins of Rice Krispie Treats, and The Trix Rabbit Story.  Whether browsing the images of the boxes or reading the features, this volume offers a rich source of advertising examples and stories for analysis and will appeal to students and their teachers immersed in introductions to media studies.  Backmatter includes acknowledgements, credits, and an index, and information about the authors and photographers. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Gitlin, Marty and Topher Ellis.  The Great American Cereal Book:  How Breakfast Got Its Crunch.  New York: Abrams Image, 2011.

Click here and here for examples of a lesson plan inviting students to create their own cereals and advertisements and to analyze the nutritional value of different cereals. 

Eat This, Not That! by David Zinczenko

This is the book you’ve been waiting for. We all know how important diet is if you’re looking to lose weight and get healthy, but trying to figure out what’s good and what’s not can be an overwhelming experience. In this appealing little book, David Zinczenko, Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health Magazine, shows the reader how to take small but important steps towards eating better. In the chapters on supermarket foods and famous fast food restaurant chains, Zinczenko explicitly tells the reader not to eat one item, and to instead swap it for a similar, healthier substitute. He includes the reasons why -- usually the foods to avoid have high calorie counts, too many grams of fat, or they’re surprisingly high in sodium. Thankfully, the alternatives he suggests often look and sound just as appetizing, and somehow, becoming informed about what’s really lurking in the unhealthy choice can make that food much less appetizing. For instance, did you know that the innocuous Multi-grain Bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the unhealthiest options they have? Surprisingly, you’ll find fewer calories in their Ham Egg & Cheese English Muffin Sandwich.

Also informative are the notes and sidebars full of tips, and the chapters on beverages, foods to eat every day, menu decoding, and what to eat when. This book (and others in the series) was a perfect complement to last week’s ELA Media Unit focusing on analyzing food media.  --Anja Kennedy