The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach

by Hillary Feerick, Jeff Hillenbrand, Joel Fuhrman

Mitch Spinach seems to be an ordinary kid, but his classmates have begun to suspect something. The notes in his custom-made, temperature controlled Nutripak lunchbox appear to have been written in code. While other kids eat their usual chicken fingers and pepperoni pizza, Mitch Spinach mixes up his meal in a battery-powered blender before their curious and envious eyes. He is the smartest, nicest, strongest kid in Ms Radicchio s class, but he often misses recess when he is called to Principal Lycopene s office. The truth is that his high-powered fruit and vegetable smoothies give him special powers, such as super-sonic hearing and amazing night vision to tackle problems and solve mysteries at Sunchoke Elementary. American culture is ripe for a new healthy, cool role model for kids. Parents will catch the allusion to their old friend Popeye, and kids will be asking for an extra helping of fruits and vegetables. Plus, what kid doesn t like stories about super-hero kids? With national campaigns like Michele Obama s Let s Move program and Jamie Oliver s Food Revolution, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach is as timely as it is innovative. Every family, library, and elementary school should stock its shelves with the first adventure in the series, in which Principal Lycopene calls on Mitch Spinach to investigate a mysterious happening in the janitor s closet. What happens next . . . you ll have to order a copy and find out!

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2010

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitch is an elementary school student whose special fruit-and-veggie smoothies give him superpowers. He uses these powers to solve mysteries around his school.

Mitch Spinach is a gentle superhero story with no villains; rather, the mystery centers around a supply closet that keeps getting messed up overnight. Mitch uses his powers to discover a family of kittens that has been sneaking into the supply room each night. The school janitor agrees to adopt the kittens, and everyone is happy.

I wasn't a big fan of the illustration style of this book; the characters stood around in awkward poses and had static smiles on their faces at almost all times, bringing to mind the artwork in a 1990s-era desktop computer game. It's doubtful that this book will hold the interest of any but the youngest kids for very long.

I do find it funny that some parents were complaining on Amazon's reviews that this book didn't make their kids eat more vegetables. LOL, it's all about buying healthy foods, making them available at all times, and presenting them in a way that's appealing. You cannot expect a book to do the work for you.

[Shez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book a few years ago when I was teaching my children about good nutrition. Since the book received great reviews on the Eat-to-Live forums, I had high hopes of it.

The book was a disappointment. It provided little to no education, a miserable storyline and a unbelievable heroes and villains.

Children aren't stupid, it's going to take a lot to convince them that bad guys are the ones who eat fast food and the good guys, who can achieve anything, are the ones who eat veggies. My kids, who have been brought up as nutritarians, found the story to be weak and unbelievable. If this is the case with kids steeped in Furhman lore, I can't imagine that SAD eating kids would be swayed by this book.

[Luz Herrera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a good book for my younger crowds. They obviously all like to eat candy and junk food but maybe this book will motivate them to eat their healthy foods too! Mitch is giving a good example of what veggies can do for you and it is definitely a plus! :)