Oliver’s Vegetables

Vivian French, Alison Bartlett (illus)
Hodder Children’s Books   
Age 3-5

Oliver only eats chips and definitely not vegetables. However his Gran and Grandpa’s garden is full of vegetables. When Oliver comes to stay Grandpa comes up with an ingenious way to encourage him to try some of the vegetables. This is an attractively illustrated picture book which just might tempt reluctant (healthy!) eaters to try something new themselves.

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud allowing time to talk about what is happening and the different vegetables as you do.

Join in
When you read the story again your child could join in perhaps by being Oliver, saying eg, ‘I don’t eat vegetables. I only eat chips.’ ‘That was good’ and ‘That was very good.’ etc

Tell the story
Using the illustrations as a guide, children can tell the story in their own words.

Talk about the book
Talk about what children liked or didn’t like about this story. Did they have any questions about it?

Watch the story

From British School Washington

Things to make and do

Make Oliver’s vegetable diary
What did Oliver eat every day? See if your child can remember, if not look back at the book to check. Make a simple origami book and write Oliver’s vegetable diary with pictures of everything he tried during his week at Gran and Grandpa’s.

Spot different vegetables at the shops
Talk about the vegetables you see when you go shopping, in the market, greengrocer or supermarket. Perhaps buy and try something new!

Do some cooking
Oliver’s grandparents make him some pea soup. You could have a go at making pea soup together. See video here which demonstrates a simple recipe to make with your children.

Do some growing
Vegetables take some time to grow. For something quick you could show your child how to grow some mustard and cress from seeds and then eat the cress in a sandwich with egg or cheese.
See here for some fun ways to grow mustard and cress.

See here for more ideas for growing vegetables.

Find out more

Read about more books by author Vivian French here, titles include:

Oliver’s Fruit Salad

Oliver’s Milk Shake

Yucky Worms

T.Rex Nature Storybook

Growing Frogs Nature Storybook