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Fridge-opolis

Illustrated by Josh Cleland
Published by little bee books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

Fridge-opolis is a city in ruin. Swiss cheese has turned moldy and bleu, downtown in the crispers, broccoli is in a bad mood, and it's up to Mayor Mayonnaise to stop the rot. This hilarious introduction to food-waste and composting will have any reader asking for seconds.

"A playful introduction to the serious topic of food waste. . . . Don't waste time: Pick up this fun, ecologically minded read." --Kirkus Reviews


There is rioting, rotting, and reeking.
Please send us your Lemon Fresh group!
Bring all your top sponges and cleaners.
Our city smells worse than . . .
pea soup!

Past Microwave Meadows and Dishwater Downs, lay the infamous, polluted city of... FRIDGE-OPOLIS! It's cold and cramped, smelly as sauerkraut, and the Eastside high-rises are full of dressings cloudy with gloom. With rotting food everywhere in sight, Mayor Mayonnaise calls on Doctor Baking Soda at Undersink Labs for help. Will they be able to save Fridge-opolis from utter rancid ruin?

About The Author

About The Illustrator

Product Details

  • Publisher: little bee books (September 6, 2022)
  • Length: 32 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781499812541
  • Grades: P - 1
  • Ages: 3 - 6

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Raves and Reviews

A playful introduction to the serious topic of food waste.
As this picture book opens, the city of Fridge-Opolis has a serious pollution problem caused by rotting and expired food. Cartoon-style illustrations use wavy lines to indicate the malodorous stench emanating from the foods while also employing color, perspective, and crowding of forms and shapes to create a messy, chaotic setting. Meanwhile, rhyming text with a singsong cadence reads, "Lettuce had long ago wilted. / Rhubarb was bitter and rude. / The overripe pineapple prickled. / Even broccoli was in a bad mood." Wordplay abounds as the untenable situation unravels, and after a food fight breaks out, anthropomorphic, mustachioed Mayor Mayonnaise resolves to clean things up. He enlists the help of Doctor Baking Soda, who scrubs the refrigerator clean and gets rid of spoiled food, leaving "only food safe to eat." At book's end, Recycling Ridge and Compost Town are introduced as new additions to the kitchen community, pointing toward ongoing efforts to reduce and responsibly deal with waste. Accessible, well-designed backmatter includes statistics and information about food waste in the United States to offer a sobering and inspiring call for readers to help "reach our national goal of cutting food waste and loss in half by 2030."

Don't waste time: Pick up this fun, ecologically minded read.

– Kirkus Reviews

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