When our first child, Ellie, was a baby we felt it was important to find ways for her to communicate with us as early as possible. We wanted her to feel secure, to trust that we would hear her and meet her needs, and we wanted her to feel empowered as she grew in the world. We all learned simple sign language from a videotape, and we were delighted when her first signs emerged at the age of 11 months. As she began eating table foods at about the same age, we searched for a way she could tell us what she was hungry for. Her signing was still rudimentary at best; waving, pointing. Placing a range of foods in front of her to choose from was impractical, and dragging her around the kitchen to point in cupboards and the fridge seemed cumbersome, but eventually we hit on the idea of a photographic menu of the foods we usually had available to her. This turned out to be easier said than done, but my wife, Francine, spent countless hours combing through the Web for appropriate photographs. It turned out to be very difficult to locate useful photos of simple things, like broccoli or string cheese or crackers. Most photographs were intended for commercial use and cost hundreds of dollars, or included elements which a baby would find distracting or confusing such as elaborate place settings or bottles of wine in the background. Eventually Francine’s determination and resourcefulness resulted in a large poster with recognizable images of the foods we usually had in the kitchen. The menu worked beautifully. We hung it up on the wall, and whenever she was hungry, Ellie would crawl or toddle to it, we would pick her up, and she would point to what she wanted. No guessing for us, no frustration for her. She had a good appetite since she was served what her body was hungry for, and mealtimes were a happy experience. Ellie was a late talker; not a word, not even “mama,” until she was nearly two, so we used the menu for over a year before her spoken vocabulary made it unnecessary. Though she communicated in an expanding vocabulary of signs during her silent time, her signs for food went only as far as “water,” “milk,” “apple,” “cheese,” “bread,” “crackers,” and “banana.” We were glad to have the menu to broaden her choices.

Kate was born when Ellie was about three and a half, and our eating habits had changed in the interim. When Kate started eating soft table foods, we needed a new menu, with fewer processed foods and less soy. Francine had her hands full, so it was my turn to sift through the Web for images, a job I found too frustrating and tedious to endure. I didn’t have hours to spend sorting through useless images of apples being splashed with water, apples and champagne, apples eaten by sexy models, in my quest for a picture of an apple that would be meaningful to Kate. I didn’t want art; I wanted clarity. What is an apple to a baby? Ideally, the image should include a whole apple, so Kate could learn where her food comes from. It should include thin slices of apple, since that’s how it looked when I served it to her. And perhaps the cross-section of an apple cut in half, with the seeds visible, since that’s also an iconic image of “apple.” The dish should be simple, so as not to draw Kate’s attention from the apples. In the end, I decided to create the photographs we needed and to share them with other families. The result is the ever-expanding gallery you find here at give a voice.

I’m actually a teacher at an urban community college, not a photographer, so first I invested in some digital photography equipment, lights, a better computer, and studied up on food photography. I began by photographing what Kate liked to eat, then expanded the options based upon what my friends fed their babies, what reliable websites and books recommended for a baby’s diet, and I added the sorts of things older children enjoy as well. Our goal is to help babies and children of all ages express themselves. This necessitates embracing a wide variety of culinary traditions, so I welcome requests for food subjects to be added to the gallery. You do us and other families a favor when you help us diversify our collection of photographs.

Though Kate is starting to speak in addition to her signing, at twenty-one months she still goes to her menu and points when she wants something beyond her vocabulary, which is often. “Cannellini beans” is just too many syllables right now! We hope you find a photographic menu uniquely created for your baby or child as helpful in reducing frustration and making mealtimes enjoyable as we do.

Bon appétit!