By Marianna Spence, CFSA Membership Coordinator, and Beth Kalb, Chatham Community Library Children’s Librarian
Here are our favorite books by age range to help you start cultivating a love for farm fresh goodness in the next generation! Cover photos and descriptions via Amazon. (P.S. If you shop through Amazon Smile and select Carolina Farm Stewardship Association as your nonprofit, a percentage of sales comes back to us!)
Baby – 2 Years Old
We’re Going to the Farmers’ Market, by Stefan Page
In this story, readers get to visit local farmers, fill baskets with fresh fruits and vegetables, and then head home to cook a feast, all with goodies from the farmers’ market! Featuring Stefan Page’s graphic art, this delightful board book is filled with bold splashes of color and unique patterns.
2 – 4 Years Old
From the Garden: A Counting Book About Growing Food, by Michael Dahl and Todd Ouren
Introduces the numbers from one to twelve as family members pick a variety of vegetables from the garden. Readers are invited to find hidden numbers on an illustrated activity page.
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A-Z, by Lois Ehlert
Preschoolers are introduced to fruits and vegetables from around the world while learning upper- and lower-case letters. A glossary at the end provides interesting facts about each food.
Going to Sleep on the Farm, by Wendy Cheyette Lewison
“How does a cow go to sleep–tell me how?” a little boy asks, and his father replies, “A cow lies down in the soft sweet hay, in a cozy barn at the end of the day.” In this tender bedtime story, each of the animals in the barnyard prepares for the night.
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
Food from Farms, by Nancy Dickmann
This book uses colorful photos and simple text to introduce children to the food produced from farms around the world.
Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert
The necessary tools are pictured and labeled, as are the seeds (green bean, pea, corn, zucchini squash, and carrot). Then the real gardening happens – planting, weeding, harvesting, washing, chopping, and cooking! In the end? “It was the best soup ever.” Simple, colorful cut-paper-style illustrations are child-friendly, as is the big black type. A recipe for vegetable soup tops it all off!
Before We Eat: From Farm to Table, by Pat Brisson and Mary Azarian
Milk doesn’t just appear in your refrigerator, nor do apples grow in the bowl on the kitchen counter. Before we eat, many people must work very hard―planting grain, catching fish, tending animals, and filling crates. In this vibrantly illustrated book, readers find out what must happen before food can get to our table to nourish our bodies and spirits.
2nd & 3rd Grade
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Will Allen is no ordinary farmer. A former basketball star, he’s as tall as his truck, and he can hold a cabbage–or a basketball–in one hand. But what is most special about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can’t see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world. No space, no problem. Poor soil, there’s a solution. Need help, found it. Farmer Will is a genius in solving problems. In 2008, the MacArthur Foundation named him one for his innovative urban farming methods, which include aquaponics and hydroponics.
From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
Explores the intricate relationship between seeds and the plants which they produce.
4th & 5th Grade
The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe, by Loree Griffin Burns
Without honey bees, the world would be a different place. There would be no honey, no beeswax for candles, and, worst of all, barely a fruit, nut, or vegetable to eat. So imagine the beekeeper Dave Hackenburg’s horror when he discovered twenty million of his charges had vanished. In The Hive Detectives, Loree Griffin Burns profiles bee wranglers and bee scientists who have been working to understand colony collapse disorder, or CCD. In this dramatic and enlightening story, readers explore the lives of the fuzzy, buzzy insects and learn what might happen to us if they were gone.
Garden to Table: A Kid’s Guide to Planting, Growing, and Preparing Food, by Katherine Hengel
Fill your plate with fresh, self-sustained produce that comes straight from your garden. Step-by-step planting, care and harvesting tips give the beginning gardener a good basic understanding of the growing process. Over 30 delicious recipes made with basil, carrots, green beans, leaf lettuce, potatoes, and tomatoes, complete with step-by-step photos, bring your homegrown foods to the table to share with others. Incorporating unique flavors and easy-to-grow veggies, these simple recipes will have you asking for seconds!