Feasts and Food

For the holiday season, let's try a taste of some food, feast, and agriculture nonfiction books suggested, and some authored, by INK authors. At the end of this post is the full alphabetical list with citations so you can cut and paste it to a document. Take that full list to your independent bookseller or library to start your book feast!

No kitchen with children should be without this classic:

Cobb, Vicki, and David Cain. Science Experiments You Can Eat. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Learn the story behind Thanksgiving and its many traditions:

Colman, Penny. Thanksgiving: The True Story. New York: Henry Holt, 2008. Print.

On the flip side of feasts, of course, is famine.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.

Here's a man who cared about food and land and farming, in addition to being an icon in our political history:

Thomas, Peggy, and Layne Johnson. Farmer George Plants a Nation. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek, 2008. Print.

To help young kids learn and celebrate the vocabulary of food and why we eat seeds such as beans, nuts, grains, and spices, try these three nonfiction chants with chewy endmatter:

Sayre, April Pulley. Let's Go Nuts!: Seeds We Eat. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Pub., 2013. Print.

Sayre, April Pulley. Go, Go, Grapes! New York: Beach Lane, 2012. Print.

Sayre, April Pulley. Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant. New York: Beach Lane, 2011. Print.

Now, help young children dig a little deeper into where food comes from before it reaches the markets and stores:

Peterson, Cris, and David R. Lundquist. Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth's Recipe for Food. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills, 2012. Print.

Learn more about the plants we eat and use in other ways:

Richardson, Gillian, and Kim Rosen. 10 Plants That Shook the World. Toronto: Annick, 2013. Print.

This retelling of a family gathering in the Midwest is a tasty treat:

Lo, Ginnie, and Beth Lo. Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic. New York: Lee & Low, 2012. Print.

For a celebration of a famous chef Julia Child, and a taste of historical fiction that has facts as its base flavor, try:

Reich, Susanna, and Amy June Bates. Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat. New York: Abrams for Young Readers, 2012. Print.

To lead young children on a geographic hunts for ingredients, check out these books:

Goodman, Susan E., and Timothy Bush. All in Just One Cookie. New York: Greenwillow, 2006. Print.

Priceman, Marjorie. How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Print.

Priceman, Marjorie. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. New York: Knopf, 1994. Print.

Don't forget Lois Ehlert's classic for the little ones:

Ehlert, Lois. Growing Vegetable Soup. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987. Print.

How about growing that soup in the city?

Dyer, Hadley. Potatoes On The Rooftop. Toronto: Annick Press, 2012.

Cool World Cooking Fun and Tasty Recipes for Kids! Paw Prints, 2013. Print.

People are not the only ones that feast. Compare what you eat with a bear's diet!

Sayre, April Pulley., and Steve Jenkins. Eat like a Bear. New York: Henry Holt and, 2013. Print.

Obviously there are a lot of great nonfiction books and fiction/nonfiction mix books that can introduce this tasty subject to your readers. Still hungry? There are many more great titles. Just ask a trained librarian to help set a plate of books for you.

Works Cited

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
Cobb, Vicki, and David Cain. Science Experiments You Can Eat. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Colman, Penny. Thanksgiving: The True Story. New York: Henry Holt, 2008. Print.
Dyer, Hadley. Potatoes On The Rooftop. Toronto: Annick Press, 2012.

Ehlert, Lois. Growing Vegetable Soup. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987. Print.

Goodman, Susan E., and Timothy Bush. All in Just One Cookie. New York: Greenwillow, 2006. Print.

Lo, Ginnie, and Beth Lo. Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic. New York: Lee & Low, 2012. Print.

Peterson, Cris, and David R. Lundquist. Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth's Recipe for Food. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills, 2012. Print.

Priceman, Marjorie. How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Print.

Priceman, Marjorie. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. New York: Knopf, 1994. Print.

Reich, Susanna, and Amy June Bates. Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat. New York: Abrams for Young Readers, 2012. Print.
Richardson, Gillian, and Kim Rosen. 10 Plants That Shook the World. Toronto: Annick, 2013. Print.

Sayre, April Pulley., and Steve Jenkins. Eat like a Bear. New York: Henry Holt and, 2013. Print.

Sayre, April Pulley. Go, Go, Grapes! New York: Beach Lane, 2012. Print.
Sayre, April Pulley. Let's Go Nuts!: Seeds We Eat. New York: Beach Lane, 2013. Print.

Sayre, April Pulley. Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant. New York: Beach Lane, 2011. Print.

Thomas, Peggy, and Layne Johnson. Farmer George Plants a Nation. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek, 2008. Print.
Cool World Cooking Fun and Tasty Recipes for Kids! N.p.: Paw Prints, 2013. Print.