Cozy up over Winter Break with some of these books, all about food - from seed to plate to compost. Let’s celebrate our food system while diving into some great stories about urban agriculture, cuisines around the world, farming, gardening, cooking, composting, and so much more! Buying gifts for the growing chefs in your life? These books may just be what you’re looking for!
Search for these books at your local library or a favourite local bookstore such as Kidsbooks, Dilly Dally Kids, or Russell Books on the island which has a GIANT selection of used books.
Picture Books for All Ages:
A Day With Yahyah by Nicola Campbell
This story invites us to learn about a First Nations family set in the Nicola Valley of British Columbia where an Elder passes down their knowledge of foraging, edibles in the woods, and about plant life. A local story, sharing Indigenous knowledge.
Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt
This beautiful picture book shows the reciprocity between the natural world and humanity and also honors the Cree language and storytelling traditions. Also included is a recipe for bannock bread, as well as basic Cree words with a pronunciation guide.
Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson
This story highlights the many characters who play a role in bringing our food to the table. Meet some of our food systems heroes in this farm-to-table tale.
Bread Lab! by Kim Binczewski and Bethany Econopouly
Baking bread during isolation has been a toasty trend this year. This author sneaks a pinch of science into a story about transforming a kitchen and baking bread. Get the kids in your life excited about integrating science and math in the kitchen, while baking tasty treats!
*this author is up to some amazing work as the managing director of the Bread Lab at Washington State University in Mount Vernon, where her work includes field research, community outreach, and connecting farmers with bakers, chefs and businesses
Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals
This is one of our favourites that we bring into the classroom with us each year - beloved by our volunteers, staff, teachers and students alike. This rhyming story takes us on an educational journey to learn about what everyday items can be composted to make your very own nutrient-rich plant food. From apple cores to zinnia heads - learn how to stew up your own compost at home. A family fun activity we can all do!
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Slink into the life of a worm with this hilarious read. It will surely have you wriggling in laughter, while learning about the daily happenings in the life of a worm - a critter that has a very important role in our world.
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
Growing Chefs' mission of educating kids about the food cycle: from seed, to plate, to compost is truly told in this story. Included in this book is a perfect winter comfort food recipe to make your very own vegetable soup together!
Harvest by Kris Waldherr
Celebrate the abundance of harvest season year round with this story. With all the bounty that harvest can bring, this family goes to work to savour all their hard work by preserving all the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that have been produced in their garden.
How to Feed Your Parents by Ryan Miller
This story may feel awfully familiar to many parents - but with a role-reversal twist! This laugh-out-loud funny, book may just be the secret ingredient to inspire picky eaters to try something new, and try their hands in the kitchen! We couldn’t wipe the smile off of our faces reading this one.
Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt
We love this story, that explores how one kid can make a difference in helping out a friend, and fighting against food insecurity. A book filled with so many important lessons around friendship, trust, empathy and that activism can begin at any age.
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli
Have you heard the true story of Nobel Peace Prize Winner “Mama Miti”of Kenya, who founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977? This is a powerful story for the whole family to enjoy, that depicts the power that one person can hold to impact the future of others.
My Food, Your Food by Lisa Bullard
A story that takes place during food week at school, where kids bring in their families cultural foods and share them with their class. Explore the many different types of food from around the world, the similarities they share, and the cultures that celebrate them.
My Soca Birthday Party by Yolanda T. Marshall
Who doesn’t like a surprise birthday party, especially one this delicious!? Canadian author, Yolanda T. Marshall invites us to a celebration with a fusion of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of African and Carribean cuisine, music, dance and culture.
Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book About Food and Farming by Lisl H. Detlefsen
Right this very minute, right in front of us, are many available opportunities to learn about and give thanks to our food systems heroes that have helped bring the food we have to our table. This story is a beautiful reminder and gentle nod to all the hard working folks behind the scenes that make up our food system. Follow up by checking out our food systems heroes thank you video.
Stone Soup by Heather Forest
This ancient tale, retold by Heather Forest teaches that making something from nothing, is a lot easier when we work together. This book is about food, community, and sharing while sharing an important lesson of how a small contribution from one, can lead to a collective impact that is so much more.
The First Fry Bread: A Gitxsan Story by Dr. M. Jane Smith
Fry bread has a significant role in the Gitxsan culture. It is often served both at home and at feasts. The fry bread story has a message for children on the importance of building up their spirits.
The Perfectly Wonky Carrot by Chris Newman
This story ticks all the boxes - a fight against food waste, with a little dose of self-love and a celebration of diversity. This confident little carrot shows that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes - and to consider giving a little bit more love to the rare looking fruits and vegetables in the produce section during your next shop.
Plant’s Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Move through the lessons on the life cycle of a plant with this fun book that showcases the side of plants that we don’t always see. After story time - follow up with our vegetable stretch video that we love to use to teach kids about how a plant grows, and get a little movement break in when we need to readjust our energy levels!
Picture Books for Ages 2-6:
Anywhere Farm by Phyllis Root
At Growing Chefs, we are huge supporters of inclusive gardening, and believe that you can grow food anywhere! And that is why we LOVE this book that takes us on a rhyming journey exploring all the different places a garden can grow. This story can be a child's first introduction to a DIY garden using repurposed materials. Apologies in advance if you find one of your boots filled with dirt one day!
And the Good Brown Earth by Kathy Henderson
What goes into taking care of a vegetable patch? It’s not just planting, and harvesting. It takes a lot of time to dig, plant, weed, water….and wait! But taking on this task with family, makes it that much sweeter. Journey through the cycling seasons, and explore all that the good brown earth can offer in lessons and in harvest.
Busy in the Garden by George Shannon
Carrot-all to join in on rhyme time with 24 poems about the growing season? Adults who have a strong appreciation for puns may even enjoy this book more than the kiddos. Riddles, rhymes, and rockin’ thymes.
Because of an Acorn by Lola Schafer & Adam Schaefer
Missing adventure these days? This story invites us down a path, journeying the seemingly simplest aspects of our layered ecosystem while learning about the life cycles of a plant.
Carrot Soup by John Segal
A story that follows Rabbit through the seasons of tending to a very precious patch of carrots. Come harvest time, the carrots are gone, and Rabbits friends have a lovely soup-rise in store for him!
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A-Z by Lois Ehlert
Practice ABC’s, celebrate fruits and vegetables from around the world, and increase food vocabulary! Included in this fun picture book, is a tasty glossary showcasing where each item is grown, and how it is usually eaten - a perfect read before snack time!
Little Pea by Amy Krauss Rosenthal
“If you don’t eat your sweets, there will be no vegetables for dessert!!” Wait...what!? A sweet story for picky eaters, and their parents who find themselves in a common pea-dicament when it comes to meal time - but with a twist!
Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington
We can’t think of a tastier way to learn about the intricacies of where food comes from then over a big pizza pie. Sally is doing pizza, in the coolest way possible. Buying flour right from the mill, making pizza sauce with tomatoes from the community garden. We’re all about it!
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
We love this story about the power of believing in yourself, determination, patience and following your gut. Despite everyone telling a young boy that his carrot seed will not grow into anything - he doesn’t stop watering, weeding, and waiting. An important story that is a fundamental part of being a successful gardener.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Let’s follow the lead of Liam in this story by daring to dream about a more green world. Environmentalism in an urban setting. As we turn the pages of this book, the dark, grey world transforms before our eyes into a vibrant, lush, green one.
Picture Books for Ages 5-9:
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
Trial and error in the kitchen is something that we have probably all experienced during this pandemic. No need to get discouraged! In this story, Amy Wu is determined to make one of her cultures traditional recipes despite her many failed attempts - I wonder what the secret ingredient is?
Eddie's Garden: And How to Make Things Grow by Sarah Garland
This fun story showcases all the hard work that goes into making a garden grow. But as we know, there is more to it than just a gardener's hard work! Eddie gets some help from the sun, rain, and many little critters. An inspiring story that inspires the youngest of gardeners to grow anywhere they can!
Food Truck Fest! by Alexandra Penfold
Feeling stuck at home? Travel the world of food, exploring with these restaurants-on-wheels, and get a taste of adventure! A celebration of the vibrancy food trucks bring to our communities, that showcases all that goes on behind the scenes to gather, transport, prepare and cook delicious food for us in the most unexpecting of places.
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
A delicate introduction to understanding how a plant, flower, or tree has come to be - sharing important vocabulary around the processes of pollination, seed formation, and germination. A perfect companion for early science lessons, and curious young gardeners. Our favourite part? This book includes instructions for a fun seed-growing project!
Grandma's Garden by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton
This timeless, heart-warming, and cross-generational story that showcases all the power a garden has. Imagining one space that holds opportunities to learn, discover, celebrate and share in stories and moments of solitude. Snuggle up with a loved one, and enjoy the comfort of a garden with this book.
How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
This cheerful story has all the good feels, while educating young readers about the many cycles and elements of gardening. Most importantly, this story drives home the importance of community, and that we all need a little help from our friends. Author Lynne Cherry is on a mission to inspire kids to grow their own food at home or at school. Growing Chefs approves!
Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid
Canadian author and illustrator Barbara Reid, invites you into this soothing story that has us giving gratitude to the bounty of nature, and all that a tree can offer. This book is sure to help sprout in our imaginations, a magic that will never have us looking at trees the same again.
The Garden of Happiness by Erika Tamar
This is a serious, feel-good book about urban agriculture! Marisol is inspired by a vacant lot in her community that is transformed into a community garden. She wants to get involved, but there are no available plots left - but that doesn’t stop her! She passes along the inspiration to so many others, with her sheer determination to plant a seed.
The Pea Blossom by Amy Lowry Poole
A retelling of an old tale of Five Peas in a Pod, one pea finds its destiny and purpose on the windowsill of a house near the city of Beijing where a young, sick girl finds hope and healing in this little pea.
The Ugly Vegetable by Grace Lin
Join us in celebrating all the fruits and vegetables that don’t get enough appreciation in this world with this story! We don’t carrot-all about whether or not our produce looks perfect - it's equally as delicious! This story includes a scrumptious recipe for ‘Ugly Vegetable Soup’ with a complete guide of Chinese pronunciation for some decadent produce.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
This story paints a picture of the combined forces in a garden: the busy bees swirling in the green, and the less noticed, wriggling worms and vital work being done down in the dirt. This rhythmic story provides comfort that we are not alone in our hard work in the garden!
Up We Grow!: A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm by Deborah Hodge
We are invited to get to know the hardworking farmers who plow, plant, compost, mulch, harvest and market fruits and vegetables. We learn about the chickens and goats, buzzing bees, and many of the farmers’ friends, working in synchronicity that help make it all happen. This informative book explains to children the importance of small local farms while touching on soil science, pollinators and sustainable agriculture.
Watch Me Grow!: A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City by Deborah Hodge
This book features photos taken locally in Vancouver that highlight all the possibilities of urban agriculture, and growing food in the city and how kids can be involved!
Zora’s Zucchini by Katherine Pryor
Zora was warned that she was planting A LOT of zucchini, but like most kids, she wasn’t focusing on the potential problems, when there was so much possibility! When her family was all zuked out, and ran out of creative ways to eat zucchini - Zora started her own neighbourhood vegetable swap! We love this story that highlights a community growing food, and coming together to share in their harvests.
Books for Ages 9-12:
Seed Folks by Paul Fleischmen
In this short novel, a seed is planted in a diverse neighborhood that sprouts and grows into a community garden. A great novel, for intermediate aged readers that covers topics about urban agriculture, community, and that one person can make a big difference in their community.
Seed Savers: Treasure by Sandra Smith
Treasure, is Part one of the ‘Seed Savers’ series that gently depicts a dystopian society where seeds and gardening are illegal. Two kids, meet a friend who teaches them about seeds, and real food. This leads them to let their curiosities take them on an adventure where they plant a forbidden tomato plant. This series of 5 books showcases the importance of the seed savers in our world, and may plant a seed for the kids in your life to discover the magic that is in a seed.
The Vanderbeekers and the Secret Garden by Karina Yan Glaser
We love this second book in the Vanderbeekers series that is a mega-feel good story about the neighbourhood children joining forces for good to create a secret healing garden in their urban community of Harlem for one of their elderly neighbours who is sick. Jam-packed full of warmth, community, and caring.