Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes by Christopher D. Salyers is a tidy little book that presents a very tidy hobby: the preparation of intricate bento boxes for children’s lunches. The author interviews a variety of Japanese mothers and fathers who have to factor in a couple of extra hours to the morning schedule in order to design and prepare beautiful lunches for their children. They start to do it to get the children to eat well, then both sides get hooked. A good-looking bento box that makes use of pop culture symbols as well as manga and anime references will also up the child’s popularity. The book is a fascinating look at a hobby that combines nutrition and craft and shows how love turns food into art.

Hardcover, 80 pages. Mark Batty, 2008. $10.36 at Amazon.

+ Face Food at Amazon