A cute and quirky bestiary-style “encyclopedia” of adorable fantasy food-animal hybrids, full of veggie facts, history, and recipe ideas!

Discover the enchanted, and tasty, world of Vegetable Fairies — magical creatures that are part animal, part vegetable!

Born from the spirits of animals who were treated with kindness, the Vegetable Fairies have one goal: sharing the joy of veggies. From the lovable Cabbark to the friendly Vulpaikon, each and every one of these fairies has a unique flavor of personality. You’ll feel completely nourished as you read up on these adorably magical critters.

This encyclopedia, the first-ever to document these whimsical creatures, offers an in-depth look at 49 of the world’s most delightful Vegetable Fairies, along with a healthy helping of information about the delectable vegetables they represent. With nutritional facts, Japanese trivia, recipe ideas, and cooking tips, there’s never been a cuter compendium of veggies!

I’m no foodie, and I’ve always struggled with eating vegetables, but I picked to review an ARC of this book because I thought the illustrations and concept was just so freaking adorable, and I was not disappointed.

I used to live in Japan (6 years in Kumamoto prefecture!) and this compendium of veggies brought a lot of memories back to me of the food I ate. This book will show you the “fairy” based on the vegetable, plus information about how the veggie is used in food in real-life, and it includes photos of savory meals. I recognized renkon, which is lotus root, and burdock, which I ate tempura-style at a restaurant with friends. So, I had some very nostalgic feelings reading this.

I don’t have much else to say in terms of reviewing. Was this cute? Yes! Do the meals and recipes look good? Yes! Did I learn about Japanese cooking? Yes!

I’d recommend this to food fans, vegetable lovers, and people who like to make their veggies look like adorable, whimsical Pokémon. This was such a fun book to read!

4/5.

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The Encyclopedia of Vegetable Fairies is available now wherever books are sold in person and online, and you can also get it directly from the publisher.

I received a digital ARC directly from TOKYOPOP and am delighted to leave a review of my own accord.