If you go to www.neatsolutions.com and click "children's books" and then the drop down bar has a section called "stories for picky eaters" and it has quite a few books and the description of the story, (listed 23 books from 2 pages) that look good. The only one that was a character I recognized was DW from Arthur, but they still look like entertaining books. ALSO you can click the "close out" tab for some stuff on sale: we have the "Mom and Me Cookbook" and enjoy it as an activity and almost a pre-K version of home ec class, and I got "Gobble Up Math" for a Christmas book since we are doing pre-K at home, thought it might be fun when he gets just a little bit older.
My sons also experienced an unexpected, pleasant side effect from Veggie Tales: they now love veggies! What the heck? Joseph will ask me to go to a specific restaurant and I'll say "well what are you wanting to eat there?" and he'll say "broccoli!" He thinks I'm an amazing chef because I can steam broccoli in the steamer even better (fresher) than they can, lol. It started with me expecting a fight from him at 4yrs old, picky monster, when I served him grilled asparagus, little slivers of steak, and roasted potatoes. He picked it up and made a funny face. I tensed. He said "Heeeeey----this looks like Dave and the Giant Pickle". (Veggie Tales version of David and Goliath, Dave was an asparagus and sang silly songs). I said "Yes....that's Dave". He smiled and took a big bite, it was good, and he proceeded to eat all his asparagus, giggling quietly to himself, and asked for seconds. We rewarded him with more asparagus after he ate his meat and potatoes. Go figure. Even though it gets on my nerves, I do kinda like the boys laughing so hard over the Veggie Tales songs. They love "God Made You Special" and "Dave and the Giant Pickle" but there are a million out there. Stay away from the "movies" though---they're sooooooo long for a grown up to have to listen to. 30 minutes is cool, 2 hours is....not. :)
We also do cook a lot together. I cook and shred the chicken, slice the veggies, etc and Joseph will add them all to the pan and help me stir, add the sauce, etc---suddenly, chicken fettucini alfredo even though it has spinach and fresh mushrooms, is a dish he's so proud to eat (because "he made it"). He knows he makes the best meatballs in the world (I measure it all, he pours it in the bowl and helps me "squish".....then we each pinch the meat off and roll them into balls together. I deal with the oven though, he understands that. Tonight, he is helping me make country fried steak (2 year old beats the crackers with a little mallet (they are in a large ziploc) and then 5 year old rolls it into crumbs with the rolling pin. They both "mash" the potatoes, and I even let them dredge the steaks and dip in the eggwash. I do the okra and tomatoes alone. It does help them eat a lot better.