A cross between a science experiment and history project, The World in Your Lunch Box humorously and informatively dissects a week’s worth of lunches, taking a close look at the food kids love the most.

Bold, colourful type announces the start of the Lunch Box Mission, as a fictional cooking teacher asks his students to keep a food diary for one week and do some research about what they’ve eaten. The teacher promises that “everything is interesting if you take the time to learn about it, even stuff as dull as white bread or potatoes.”

He’s right, of course, and it turns out the everyday foods in the students’ humble packed lunches are not so simple and straightforward after all. Author Claire Eamer’s delivery is friendly and witty, and Sa Boothroyd’s spot-on, comical illustrations help make the text even more accessible. 

The students’ diary entries form chapters, each describing that day’s lunch followed by weird and wonderful facts and stories related to it. Day one starts with that lunch-box staple, the ham sandwich, and from there the information flows quickly and imaginatively. In subsequent chapters we discover the chemistry of why ice cream freezes, the story behind the Chinese delicacy called “century eggs,” and the link between smelling and tasting. Lighthearted jokes and anecdotes, such as the secret behind making turducken (turkey stuffed with chicken stuffed with duck), are balanced with more serious information, including stories about the Irish potato famine and food allergies.

It’s easy to imagine this book inspiring a young reader to keep a food diary and embark on a similar discovery of fun food facts, learning about much more along the way.