Thirty-three poets--including Lois Duncan, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Nikki Grimes, Joseph Bruchac, Jane Yolen, and Charlotte Zolotow--contribute new poems about different foods, in a volume that benefits Share Our Strength's effort to end hunger. Grade 4-7. Children who pick this book by its title alone expecting lunchroom chaos within will be disappointed, unless they go on to read the subtitle (printed on two asparagus on the book jacket), which establishes the anthology's more serious nature. Thirty-three contemporary American poets contributed original selections about favorite foods and food-related activities in support of Share Our Strength (SOS), an antihunger organization. There are poems about mussels, chocolate, pretzels, pasta, artichokes, and other edibles. Most of the selections are rather bland. Some will evoke warm memories of special family celebrations, and a few will make readers chuckle. There are several tiny gems: W. Nicola-Lisa's "Salad Haiku," Liz Rosenberg's "The Fruit Bowl," and Paul B. Janeczko's "August Ice-Cream Cone Poem" ("Lick/quick"). Rosen's illustrations, done in watercolor and ink, are as erratic as the poems. At times, the artist seems to have tried to capture visually every image in a poem and has ended up overpowering the poem itself. The best illustrations are the small ones that leave lots of white space on the page. Well meaning, but uneven.?Carolyn Angus, The Claremont Graduate School, CA Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. 3^-6. Food is always an inviting topic, and these new poems by 35 children's writers "spill the beans" about the pleasure of eating and reading. Profits go to Share Our Strength (SOS), an anti-hunger organization. The contributors include some great children's writers, but most of them are not at their best here; and Rosen's big, bright, celebratory watercolors, though delicious to look at, tend to overwhelm the words, especially when the poem is printed right on the illustration. The best poems are wonderfully physical, for example, Paul Fleischman's account of how your teeth feel eating corn on the cob, and Charlotte Zolotow's four verses about the foods of each season. Then there's Paul Janeczko's two-line, two-word "August Ice-Cream Cone Poem": "Lick Quick." Hazel Rochman New poems contributed by over thirty of America's top children's poets provide stimulating and fun treatises on food; from the politics of having food on the table to a fantasy Roast Battle. Each poem donated to Food Fight benefits one of the nation's largest anti-hunger organizations. -- Midwest Book Review Vegetable Medley by Steven Albert Bauer Maple-sugaring Moon by Joseph Bruchac Sunday O Sunday by Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld Artijoke by William Rossa Cole Blackberrying by Crescent Dragonwagon Grandma Louise's Gingerbread by Crescent Dragonwagon Lunch With Lou by Lois Duncan Hero Sandwich by David Elliott Corn: A Hymn by Paul Fleischman Matzo Ball Soup by Douglas Florian Pineapple Surprise by Nikki Grimes Lunch Time by Lee Bennett Hopkins Pies: A Lament by James Howe The Chocolate Cake by Daniil Iuvachev Pasta Parade by Bobbi Katz Roasting Pumpkin Seeds by X. J. Kennedy Liquid Poems: 1 by Karla Kuskin Liquid Poems: 2 by Karla Kuskin Liquid Poems: 3 by Karla Kuskin The Picnic Place by Karla Kuskin Roast Beast Battle by Anne Lemieux Eating Alphabet Soup by J. Patrick Lewis A Word About Good Food by J. Patrick Lewis Christmas Cookies by Myra Cohn Livingston Dreams by Myra Cohn Livingston For A Super Soup-bean Supper by George Ella Lyon Soft-boiled Eggs With Boats by Gardner Mcfall Eating Crocodiles by Pat Mora Battle In The Fjords Of Porridge by Peter Neumeyer Salad Haiku by W. Nicola-lisa A Pizza The Size Of The Sun by Jack Prelutsky The Fruit Bowl by Liz Rosenberg Pretzels In The Park by Joanne Ryder Grandma's Scones by Robert D. San Souci Tomato Harvest by Robert D. San Souci Kumquats by Marilyn Singer Riddle by Elizabeth Spires Chocolate by Jane Yolen Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring by Charlotte Shapiro Zolotow -- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®