What do you think?
Fruit Bowl
Who belongs in the fruit bowl? Apples, check. Blueberries, check. Tomato, che– Wait, what?! Tomato wants to join the other fruits, but does he belong? The perfect mix of botany and a bunch of bananas!
All the fruit are in the bowl. There’s Apple and Orange. Strawberry and Peach. Plum and Pear. And, of course, Tomato.
Now wait just a minute! Tomatoes aren’t fruit! Or are they?
Using sly science (and some wisdom from a wise old raisin), Tomato proves all the fruit wrong and shows that he belongs in the bowl just as much as the next blueberry! And he’s bringing some unexpected friends too!
All the fruit are in the bowl. There’s Apple and Orange. Strawberry and Peach. Plum and Pear. And, of course, Tomato.
Now wait just a minute! Tomatoes aren’t fruit! Or are they?
Using sly science (and some wisdom from a wise old raisin), Tomato proves all the fruit wrong and shows that he belongs in the bowl just as much as the next blueberry! And he’s bringing some unexpected friends too!
40 pages, Hardcover
Published June 12, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
February 4, 2020
I'm not sure why this book doesn't have better ratings on here. I thought Fruit Bowl very cleverly explained for kids, and adults, what makes a fruit a fruit. This book teaches us that many of the foods we call vegetables are actually fruits! My elementary children just learned in their Botany lesson why a fruit is a fruit and a vegetable is a vegetable; this book aided understanding so that even my kindergartner could understand the scientific reasoning behind what makes a fruit a fruit. 5 stars.
March 30, 2019
When the fruits are put into a bowl, and tomato tries to join them, all the other fruits shun him and tell him he belongs in the bin with the other vegetables. So, using scientific data, charts, an x-ray photo, and confirmation from Old Man Produce to prove that he is fruit and does indeed belong in the fruit bowl, he takes a stand. A humorous and pun filled story of the difference between fruits and vegetables.
August 15, 2018
Good picture book for older kids, a little long and wordy for younger ones. Good food puns.
January 5, 2019
this was really cute and i loved the art. it had a lot of asides and puns on each page. i don't think my littles would sit through it without modification and superb voice acting lol
June 10, 2019
This review originally published at http://www.drttmk.com/books/fruit-bowl.
Tomatoes are like the Schrödinger's cat of produce.
It feels like it's supposed to be metaphorical, but then it turns out that it's absolutely not metaphorical, and it's literally just talking about whether or not tomatoes are fruits.
All the fruits and vegetables are not only sentient, but have faces, arms and legs. There's an unpictured human of some kind who just went shopping, and the fruit all walks out of the grocery bag into the fruit bowl. Then there is a bit of a disagreement because the tomato walks into the fruit bowl, so the tomato leaves and gets a book to prove that it's a fruit. The tomato explains that fruits all started as flowers, whereas vegetables come from other parts of the plant: leaves, petals, stems, roots, etc. Fruits have seeds, and vegetables don't. The human disagrees, saying the tomato isn't sweet, but the tomato points out that cranberries and grapefruits aren't sweet, but they're clearly fruits.
The other fruits don't believe the book, so they go talk to a character called Old Man Produce, who is a prune that is apparently forgotten in a corner of the kitchen. He seems rather philosophical, but they ask him to get to the point, and he says that tomatoes are fruit. So the tomato goes in the fruit bowl, and brings along the other "vegetables" that are also fruits, like peas, eggplants, peppers, and squash. Then the vegetables who remain in the produce drawer are jealous and wonder why they don't get their own bowl. The back of the book shows them making some kind of plan to try to get into the fruit bowl.
I don't know what's so special about the fruit bowl. Do they not realize they're all going to get eaten? Do they want to be eaten? They don't seem happy about it. This reminds me of Arnie the Doughnut, where most of the main characters are sentient food (most of which actually wants to be eaten).
I guess it teaches facts about what things are fruits and what things are vegetables, but things that are biologically fruits are not necessarily culinarily fruits. A tomato milkshake does not sound as good as a peach, strawberry, banana, or apple-- even a grapefruit milkshake sounds better. There's a difference between the way that we use culinary fruits and culinary vegetables. And they don't even bring pumpkins, also biologically a fruit, into this. A pumpkin would just be massive compared to the other characters, and wouldn't even fit into the fruit bowl.
Yes, there are times when one word means something totally different to scientists than to the average person. Good examples are the words "law" and "theory." In everyday language, "law" means something that the government mandates. But, clearly, the government does not mandate the Law of Thermodynamics. And the Theory of Relativity isn't just a guess, it's an observation. Time behaves differently for two people if one is moving very quickly relative to the other. The only guesses are about the specifics, and those guesses are very, very good. And this difference in language also causes problems, like when evolution deniers whine that the Theory of Evolution is "just a theory." Scientists know that evolution happens, and they only have disagreements about the tiniest of details.
This book is really all about prescriptivist grammar, while disguising itself as some kind of way of teaching children what fruit. There are so many books about where fruit comes from and flowers that I'm certain there have to be better ones than this.
But this book doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a goofy story about sentient, walking, talking produce? Or does it want to teach biology? One thing that doesn't quite get resolved is that the human tells the tomato, "Get in the fridge or you'll go bad!" Which is a good point.
And I thought about it for a while, and I'm pretty sure the only reason we leave fruit in a bowl instead of the fridge, where it would last longer (yes, even bananas), is that you can grab it and eat it as is (and it won't dry out, like celery or carrots). You want the fruit to be visible so you'll remember to eat it, since it's healthier than junk food. You can grab an apple, rinse it off, and chow down immediately. Nobody's going to do that with a tomato. Tomatoes take more preparation. They're usually combined with other things (like in salad, BLT sandwiches, or sauces). And you're certainly not going to walk by and decide you want to bite into a pumpkin.
We put things in the fridge because they go bad quickly or because we don't need them to be in our face to remind us they exist. If I'm going to eat a tomato, I'm going to plan to eat that tomato, and what I'm going to do with it. Unless I'm baking a pie or something, I'm probably not going to do that with an apple, so it makes sense to have it within easy reach. It would clearly last longer in the refrigerator, and, at least in my house, we put things like strawberries in the refrigerator because they go bad within days.
Maybe we should call the "fruit bowl" something else. But this book certainly doesn't convince me to put tomatoes in it. Especially not ones with arms and legs.
I think maybe this book was just an excuse for the author to make a bunch of fruit puns, because they comprise the majority of the text.
Message: Tomatoes are fruit.
Tomatoes are like the Schrödinger's cat of produce.
It feels like it's supposed to be metaphorical, but then it turns out that it's absolutely not metaphorical, and it's literally just talking about whether or not tomatoes are fruits.
All the fruits and vegetables are not only sentient, but have faces, arms and legs. There's an unpictured human of some kind who just went shopping, and the fruit all walks out of the grocery bag into the fruit bowl. Then there is a bit of a disagreement because the tomato walks into the fruit bowl, so the tomato leaves and gets a book to prove that it's a fruit. The tomato explains that fruits all started as flowers, whereas vegetables come from other parts of the plant: leaves, petals, stems, roots, etc. Fruits have seeds, and vegetables don't. The human disagrees, saying the tomato isn't sweet, but the tomato points out that cranberries and grapefruits aren't sweet, but they're clearly fruits.
The other fruits don't believe the book, so they go talk to a character called Old Man Produce, who is a prune that is apparently forgotten in a corner of the kitchen. He seems rather philosophical, but they ask him to get to the point, and he says that tomatoes are fruit. So the tomato goes in the fruit bowl, and brings along the other "vegetables" that are also fruits, like peas, eggplants, peppers, and squash. Then the vegetables who remain in the produce drawer are jealous and wonder why they don't get their own bowl. The back of the book shows them making some kind of plan to try to get into the fruit bowl.
I don't know what's so special about the fruit bowl. Do they not realize they're all going to get eaten? Do they want to be eaten? They don't seem happy about it. This reminds me of Arnie the Doughnut, where most of the main characters are sentient food (most of which actually wants to be eaten).
I guess it teaches facts about what things are fruits and what things are vegetables, but things that are biologically fruits are not necessarily culinarily fruits. A tomato milkshake does not sound as good as a peach, strawberry, banana, or apple-- even a grapefruit milkshake sounds better. There's a difference between the way that we use culinary fruits and culinary vegetables. And they don't even bring pumpkins, also biologically a fruit, into this. A pumpkin would just be massive compared to the other characters, and wouldn't even fit into the fruit bowl.
Yes, there are times when one word means something totally different to scientists than to the average person. Good examples are the words "law" and "theory." In everyday language, "law" means something that the government mandates. But, clearly, the government does not mandate the Law of Thermodynamics. And the Theory of Relativity isn't just a guess, it's an observation. Time behaves differently for two people if one is moving very quickly relative to the other. The only guesses are about the specifics, and those guesses are very, very good. And this difference in language also causes problems, like when evolution deniers whine that the Theory of Evolution is "just a theory." Scientists know that evolution happens, and they only have disagreements about the tiniest of details.
This book is really all about prescriptivist grammar, while disguising itself as some kind of way of teaching children what fruit. There are so many books about where fruit comes from and flowers that I'm certain there have to be better ones than this.
But this book doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a goofy story about sentient, walking, talking produce? Or does it want to teach biology? One thing that doesn't quite get resolved is that the human tells the tomato, "Get in the fridge or you'll go bad!" Which is a good point.
And I thought about it for a while, and I'm pretty sure the only reason we leave fruit in a bowl instead of the fridge, where it would last longer (yes, even bananas), is that you can grab it and eat it as is (and it won't dry out, like celery or carrots). You want the fruit to be visible so you'll remember to eat it, since it's healthier than junk food. You can grab an apple, rinse it off, and chow down immediately. Nobody's going to do that with a tomato. Tomatoes take more preparation. They're usually combined with other things (like in salad, BLT sandwiches, or sauces). And you're certainly not going to walk by and decide you want to bite into a pumpkin.
We put things in the fridge because they go bad quickly or because we don't need them to be in our face to remind us they exist. If I'm going to eat a tomato, I'm going to plan to eat that tomato, and what I'm going to do with it. Unless I'm baking a pie or something, I'm probably not going to do that with an apple, so it makes sense to have it within easy reach. It would clearly last longer in the refrigerator, and, at least in my house, we put things like strawberries in the refrigerator because they go bad within days.
Maybe we should call the "fruit bowl" something else. But this book certainly doesn't convince me to put tomatoes in it. Especially not ones with arms and legs.
I think maybe this book was just an excuse for the author to make a bunch of fruit puns, because they comprise the majority of the text.
Message: Tomatoes are fruit.
April 22, 2019
Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award Nominee 2020.
Neither a science book (is a tomato a fruit) nor a parable about acceptance and diversity (some produce traditionally considered vegetable actually meets the criteria for being a fruit). While some are welcomed into the fruit bowl, others are inexplicably left in the crisper drawer.
The illustrations remind me of Eric Carle but lack his whimsy.
Overall, kind of a shoulder-shrugger. Nothing bad, but not much to take away from this one.
Neither a science book (is a tomato a fruit) nor a parable about acceptance and diversity (some produce traditionally considered vegetable actually meets the criteria for being a fruit). While some are welcomed into the fruit bowl, others are inexplicably left in the crisper drawer.
The illustrations remind me of Eric Carle but lack his whimsy.
Overall, kind of a shoulder-shrugger. Nothing bad, but not much to take away from this one.
May 20, 2022
Mark Hoffmann writes a fictional story about a group of anthropomorphized fruit who live together in a kitchen bowl as one tomato argues to be recognized and included among other fruits. The author wrote the story and hand-lettered the text; however, the illustrations "were made using gouache with digital compositing". While some readers might find the fruit-based puns to be above most elementary readers' comprehension, other readers should still enjoy the humor anyway.
March 20, 2022
How we blur what is a fruit and what is a vegetable is cleverly addressed in this cute picture book. Tomato is defending his proper place in the fruit bowl and the reader discovers 7 other misunderstood foods--bell peppers, sugar snap peas, eggplant, cucumbers, avocado, green beans and squash all technically qualify as fruit, also!
November 20, 2020
Fun book of fruits and vegetables interacting with each other and debating where they belong.
June 2, 2019
When is a veggie not a veggie? When it is a fruit of course. In this book, a young boy has the job of helping his mother put away the groceries. Fruits go into the bowl and veggies go into the crisper. However, much to the chagrin of the fruit, Tomato would like to go into the bowl and it turns out that he is not alone. He and his friends make a good case as to why they should be included in the fruit bowl as they help the boy explore the actual differences between fruits and vegetables.
Despite my having a personal aversion to anthropomorphic food, this book to me is adorably drawn and quite punny. It is also filled with fun facts. It would make a great jumping off point for a botany lesson a unit on nutrition or even a jr. science fair project. I recommend reading just for the fun of it. I am sure your kids will agree.
Despite my having a personal aversion to anthropomorphic food, this book to me is adorably drawn and quite punny. It is also filled with fun facts. It would make a great jumping off point for a botany lesson a unit on nutrition or even a jr. science fair project. I recommend reading just for the fun of it. I am sure your kids will agree.
February 20, 2021
My 2 1/2-year-old is too young for this, but I will definitely be checking it out again when she is older! It’s a great age level-appropriate explanation of the difference between fruits and vegetables – with puns to boot!
UPDATE: 3-year-old loves it and can’t reel-off the puns often enough for her liking!
UPDATE: 3-year-old loves it and can’t reel-off the puns often enough for her liking!
September 15, 2018
Of all the picture books about anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables lately, this one ranks more up than down.
It could work as a read-aloud to kindergarten or first grade groups, although some portion of the kids will already have heard that tomatoes are fruits, and others won't have.
Although the argument is made here that tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables, it is not made thoroughly - an x-ray of the tomato reveals seeds inside, but since no other x-rays are shown, readers can't compare and decide for themselves!
In addition, the argument that fruits start out as flowers is also not conclusive unless it is shown that vegetables do not! The picture of an artichoke, for example, is confusing, because their flowers are so noticeable and showy...but you have to grow them yourself to understand that the edible part becomes the flower if you let it. And overshot lettuce & broccoli have flowers, so the point needs to be made that in fruits, the flowers precede the edible item, and in vegetables, the flowers come after - if that's how it works, which I don't actually know! (...not going to look it up right now...) (...argh, I couldn't stop myself. and it's complicated and now I see why the author doesn't even try - NOT even in an end-note, because that would require an actual non-fiction book!)
Alright, clearly, if you're going to read this aloud to a group of kids, first find the non-fiction book that will answer their questions, like maybe...shoot, I'm not finding anything perfect...sigh...I guess I'll just use the encyclopedia when I try reading this to a class.
I like the illustrations and the puns. If it seems to you there are too many, you can always leave out some of them when you read it aloud. Kids reading on their own are surely going to enjoy them more than the adult.
It could work as a read-aloud to kindergarten or first grade groups, although some portion of the kids will already have heard that tomatoes are fruits, and others won't have.
Although the argument is made here that tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables, it is not made thoroughly - an x-ray of the tomato reveals seeds inside, but since no other x-rays are shown, readers can't compare and decide for themselves!
In addition, the argument that fruits start out as flowers is also not conclusive unless it is shown that vegetables do not! The picture of an artichoke, for example, is confusing, because their flowers are so noticeable and showy...but you have to grow them yourself to understand that the edible part becomes the flower if you let it. And overshot lettuce & broccoli have flowers, so the point needs to be made that in fruits, the flowers precede the edible item, and in vegetables, the flowers come after - if that's how it works, which I don't actually know! (...not going to look it up right now...) (...argh, I couldn't stop myself. and it's complicated and now I see why the author doesn't even try - NOT even in an end-note, because that would require an actual non-fiction book!)
Alright, clearly, if you're going to read this aloud to a group of kids, first find the non-fiction book that will answer their questions, like maybe...shoot, I'm not finding anything perfect...sigh...I guess I'll just use the encyclopedia when I try reading this to a class.
I like the illustrations and the puns. If it seems to you there are too many, you can always leave out some of them when you read it aloud. Kids reading on their own are surely going to enjoy them more than the adult.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2018
Lively gouache and digital illustrations complement a humorous exploration of the difference between fruits and vegetables. This introduction to the topic comes via a kitchen where produce is being sorted into the appropriate spots, and the fruits are being placed in a bowl. The story features plenty of clever wordplay and a tomato who insists that it belongs in the fruit bowl too. He makes a compelling argument regarding seeds, and the fruit bowl gets filled with some unexpected produce. Meanwhile, as the tomato points out, the rest of the veggies left in the refrigerator bin "are just greens with envy!" (unpaged), ending the book with yet another pun. This picture book provides a funny way to resolve the argument about whether something is a fruit or a vegetable. Either way, all that talk of food will surely have youngsters looking for a healthy snack of some sort.
October 19, 2019
Nominated for the 2020 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book award, I just read this book to most of the school. The first half of the week I had a lousy activity that I abandoned and instead had the students go on World Book Online to look up fruits and vegetables. I put a chart on the board similar to the one in the book - that they could reach had them fill it in. The rules were that they had to find their fruit or vegie in World Book first and confirm it was a fruit. If it was a different part of the plant, they had to list it under headings labeled: LEAF, STEM, PETAL, or ROOT. Students had permission to add headings (they found FUNGUS). They were really excited about it and I think we will continue next week after reading ROT. But it might make sense to have two charts for Rot - one for the plants and one for character traits.
December 9, 2018
Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffmann, illustrated by Mark Hoffmann. PICTURE BOOK. Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. $18. 978-1-524-71991-3
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Is a tomato a fruit? A vegetable? This book explores what makes a fruit a fruit. It teaches us that many of the fruits we claim as fruits are actually vegetables.
This is a great concept for kids to learn about since they are often curious about the foods they eat and how they grow. The colors of the fruits are bright and appealing, and the play-on-words for the fruit is very catchy.
Megan Joseph, Kindergarten Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Is a tomato a fruit? A vegetable? This book explores what makes a fruit a fruit. It teaches us that many of the fruits we claim as fruits are actually vegetables.
This is a great concept for kids to learn about since they are often curious about the foods they eat and how they grow. The colors of the fruits are bright and appealing, and the play-on-words for the fruit is very catchy.
Megan Joseph, Kindergarten Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
August 13, 2018
This book made my day! For awhile I have been talking about how most food items that we called vegetables are actually fruits, such as peppers and cucumbers. This has led me to think that the category of vegetables is an illusion, but I liked how this book defined vegetables. They defined vegetable as leaves, petals, stems, and roots, which makes sense. Now this is a children's fictional picture book, but I like how they settled this debate. Besides giving me a definition that I can live with, I also like this book for its humor and style.
October 22, 2018
Very clever way of introducing the science of learning what classifies a vegetable and a fruit. Also, could be a springboard to a discussion on how tomato could have been the bridge between his new friends in the fruit bowl to the "other" group in vegetable land in the fridge.
I remember thinking it odd that a tomato was called a fruit until I learned the reasons brought to life by my mom being on a diet where she gained weight one week from eating too many tomatoes, which were a fruit. It was a revelation to us both.
Great art work. Clever story line.
I remember thinking it odd that a tomato was called a fruit until I learned the reasons brought to life by my mom being on a diet where she gained weight one week from eating too many tomatoes, which were a fruit. It was a revelation to us both.
Great art work. Clever story line.
July 7, 2018
Hoffman's clever book examines the question is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable. With a series of talking bubbles and fun word play, the book looks at the issue of inclusion while teaching bout the differences between fruits and vegetables while taking on a few misnomers about the distinctions. A wise old prune helps them learn that label should be less important than what the produce has to offer.
June 25, 2020
If you ever wondered “is this a vegetable or fruit,” then this is the picture book for you! What a fun and funny adventure in in learning about fruits and veggies and an opportunity practice voicing different characters, even an old, wise, and wizened fruit! I love the illustrations of clearly drawn produce in vibrant colors with simple, expressive faces. There is a wonderful two-page spread that zooms in on the fruit bowl, faces and all. And there are a ton of puns!
April 4, 2021
I really love it. Because the fruits think that tomato is not a fruit, but tomato is actually a fruit. Tomato is a fruit because it has seed, it is healthy, it is yummy. You can put the tomato into a sandwich, just like you can put strawberry inside a smoothy.
The story is funny. Because the fruit bowl is used only for fruits, and the vegetables are in the refrigerator. Vegetables ask why they don't have their own bowl. That bowl might be called Vegetable Bowl.
The story is funny. Because the fruit bowl is used only for fruits, and the vegetables are in the refrigerator. Vegetables ask why they don't have their own bowl. That bowl might be called Vegetable Bowl.
September 12, 2025
This book explains the difference between fruits and vegetables in perhaps the clearest manner I’ve ever encountered, but this insight is made less effective—in my opinion—by the haphazard narrative style. This could be a fun read for older kids, but as a picture book I found it overly-reliant on puns/humor inaccessible for younger readers. The art is cute, though, and I loved giving the raisin an old man voice.
June 15, 2018
When fruits are getting put away after being purchased, a debate ensues among them about which "fruits" are in fact fruits or vegetables. Of course, a wise fruit solves the issue and confirms that fruits come from the flowering part of plants and that they have seeds. Children will love the silly puns and bright vivid illustrations. Best for children 4-7 years.
July 28, 2018
This is a fun, silly, and certainly colorful story that sneaks in a little lesson about the differences between vegetables and fruits--and that several of our favorites that we call "veggies" actually belong in the fruit bowl! It's always nice to see kids' books that celebrate produce--healthy eating is something everyone should get behind.
October 6, 2018
A tomato tries his best to convince a bowl of fruit that he's not a vegetable, he's actually one of them. I like the simple faces on the fruits and vegetables, but the many dialogue boxes made the story a little chaotic. Still, I appreciate having a picture book on our shelves that clears up the myths about certain fruits that "masquerade" as vegetables.
November 12, 2018
It was cute, but - puns aside - actually a bit boring. The tone of the whole thing is just so argumentative. Maybe it's the current state of things in the US, but the fruit trying to keep out Tomato and making him offer proof and consult an authority to decide whether he belongs...
It just sort of made me tired.
It just sort of made me tired.
December 19, 2019
What makes a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable? My boys and I have talked about this before but it was fun to read this recent library find in which Tomato has to explain to all the fruit in the fruit bowl that he is indeed one of them, as are quite a few others that are called vegetables. Oh and this book ifs full of puns, which I’m pretty sure my boys enjoyed more than anything else.
February 3, 2020
Absolutely adore this book! As soon as I saw this book at the library, I was attracted to the artwork which gave me a very Eric-Carle-feel. Then, as I began reading, I couldn't stop giggling! Lots of silly fruit and veggie puns, while also explaining the difference between them (what makes a fruit a fruit). I went out and bought the book the next day!
March 9, 2020
I really liked the potential and premise of this book but was somewhat disappointed by the overall execution of the story. Just felt it could have been so much better. I sensed a battle between trying to be humorous vs educational and neither came through enough and as a result many parts felt forced.
September 3, 2021
A bowl of fruits rejects a tomato trying to join them, bringing on the question - what makes a fruit a fruit? Through a bunch of talking fruit with speech bubbles, the question is investigated. It was a more entertaining way to get the info across than a classic nonfiction book, and would probably interest more readers with its almost graphic novel-like style.
August 2, 2024
I didn't enjoy that this book was written entirely with speech bubbles; I find it hard to follow along with and enjoy a story when it is written that way. The artwork was just okay, and the fruits' faces were also drawn kind of creepily. I appreciate the "conflict"/discussion of the book, but not the way in which it was presented.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews