My mom impressed upon her children – strongly impressed – the importance of thank-you notes. My sisters and I were expected to thank our grandparents, our teachers, our gift-bearing friends, our hosts … whenever the occasion arose (according to my mother, that was pretty often).

In my suburban childhood, supermarkets ruled, which may be why we never thanked “all the folks we’ll never meet who helped provide this food we eat,” as the charmingly illustrated new children’s book, “Before We Eat: From Farm to Table,” does.

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“Before We Eat: From Farm to Table” encourages kids to think of and thank “all the folks we’ll never meet who helped provide this food we eat,” like fishermen, farmers and beekeepers. “They fished from boats out on the seas; raised wheat and nuts and honeybees,” one of the rhymes reminds us. Courtesy Tilbury House Publishers

Written by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Vermonter Mary Azarian and published by Tilbury House Publishers in Thomaston, the book starts and ends at the table. In between, children learn through plain and pleasing rhythms about the chain of farmers, fishermen, beekeepers, delivery truck drivers, store clerks and parents (i.e., shoppers and cooks) who put food on that table.

The woodblock prints are cheerful and sweet, and they reflect the handcrafted nature of the subject matter.

Sure, we ought to give thanks year-round. But in the rush of everyday life, how many of us remember to? It’s nice to have a holiday to remind us, and a book that prompts us not only to love our farmer, in the contemporary parlance, but also to thank her.

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