And even if the land was laying fallow, they refused to release it back to the local government for other uses. The very meticulous accounts of every aspect of banana breeding and cross-breeding and growing (and on and on and on) I can do without. Set in the Second World War this is a touching atmospheric story about a girl whose mission is to find a banana to cheer up her mother. Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) -- ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.

But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated.Her previous publications include Food and Culture in Contemporary American Fiction (2011) and Beef: A Global History (Reaktion, 2013).

The book doesn't just talk about the banana in the US, it talks about its influence across the globe.

Encourages face-to-face interaction with your child, promoting facial expressions, emotions, strong eye contact and mimicking. Mark Kurlansky is a well-known and persistent practitioner of this genre with books on cod, oysters, salt, and most recently paper. The large, decorative murals depicting the industry in full flow can be seen inside all Banana Wharf venues. Please read our guide on permission to read books aloud online (this link will open in a new window). The reasons why bananas are threatened with global extinction despite being one of the most successful agricultural crops are fascinating, and chilling.

Something similar could happen today, and so the author talks about attempts to develop new types of bananas that could replace the Cavendish.The third section follows the Gros Michel bananas' (sold 1900-1960s) extinction from the Panama disease, while United Fruit and Standard Fruit look for a replacement banana or cure. For example, Chapter eleven explains the comedy root of why slipping on banana peels are funny with the next chapter inexplicably on the background of Sam Zemurray, the future CEO of United Fruit.