So a couple weeks ago I wrote about Read Across America and gave a few suggestions of how you could celebrate ;). I decided I would share with you how we celebrated, because the food just turned out so darn cute!!

I decided to highlight my kids' favorite books, and worked from there. One of my kids' all-time favorite books (and mine ;) ) is Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. In this book, Pete the Cat has a brand new pair of shoes, but ends up stepping in all kinds of stuff that changes the color of his shoes. He steps in a pile of strawberries, then blueberries, then a puddle of mud, and then a bucket of water. So naturally, we had strawberries and blueberries :). Then my son suggested we also have hot cocoa, since it's brown like mud- can I just say this was a very proud parenting moment for me as a former teacher and current book/food -lover?? ;).

Our next highlighted book was How Big is A Million- a story about a little penguin who goes on a search to see how big a million is. At the very end of the book, there is giant poster (seriously about as tall as me ;) that shows a million stars :). Since this book is all about a little penguin, I made little penguin snacks! Just cover an oval shaped cracker (I used Townhouse crackers) in cream cheese, and use slices of colossal olives to make wings and a face. Little bits of carrot complete the look by giving your penguin a beak and flippers. They turned out SO CUTE and they were really tasty too ;).

The next book we highlighted is the classic- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I made little coconut trees using pretzel rods, 3 grapes, and slices of granny smith apples. I tried finding alphabet cookies or cereal to pose as the letters that go up the tree, but nothing could be found in my little rural Walmart ;). So I used a toothpick and strawberry syrup to draw the letters on the plate. They turned out great and the kids were dying over them :). (And to be honest I totally was too! ;D ).

The last book I decided to read to my kids was the Usborne Big Book of Colors. My sister suggested this one as well since her kids love it, so I decided to include it in our bunch. This book goes through and has a page highlighting a particular color and is filled with all sorts of items. At the end of the day we realized it would be pretty easy to figure something out- we just set out a bowl of M&M's :). Easy- and chocolate-y ;).

We set everything up and then gave everyone their special plate of fun food while reading each story. It was great because afterwards the kids wanted to read even more, so we set out several books and they just read for 30+ minutes! All in all, I think it was a great success:). I love how food can add so much to a party! ;)

Did you guys have any fun celebrations for Read Across America, particulary involving food? I would love to hear all about it! Share in the comments below!