I am a garden writer, for heaven's sake, but when I saw what celery looked like in the ground, I was floored.

"THAT'S celery?" I said, sounding very surprised. It didn't look anything like the grocery store version.

So it is no wonder that our children -- living in a non-agrarian society as most of them do -- don't have a clue where their food comes from or what it looks like when it is growing.

"Seed, Soil Sun: Earth's Recipe for Food," by Cris Peterson is a new book for young people that helps erase some of that ignorance. This introduction to how seeds become food is considered a standout in a field that has lots of entries.

Clearly written in simple language, it explains how seeds, planted in soil, watered by the rain and fed by the sun become food. The photos by David Lundquist are stunning as well.

This is the kind of book you should buy for the future gardeners -- or vegetable eaters -- in your life.