Baby book about food
Best Toddler Books About Food (Board Books and Story Books!)
Reading about food is one of the best ways to get little ones interested in actually eating it—and without any pressure and all of the fun! These are my favorite toddler books about food, including board books for the little ones and longer books for older kids.
Toddler Books
As we start to head into the holiday season, I thought I’d share some of our favorite food-related story books. My family has loved these books and I updated the list to include ones that are favorites in other families, too.
I love reading about food—and giving these books as gifts—since it can be a safe way to explore all sorts of food without there being any pressure what-so-ever on a kiddo to eat it.
And then when the child does actually see the food, you can talk about the story and they might be more willing to taste it without any pressure from you!
Best Children’s Books
We love giving and receiving books—and then passing them on when we outgrow them. And while it’s always hard to know exactly what a friend or loved one may have in their library, having two of something is never a big deal to us—especially if it’s a book we love.
I’m including a mix of board books and longer books so you can pick from a range of options for your own kids or to gift to others.
Our very favorites include:
- Dim Sum for Everyone
- Baby Goes to Market
- Blueberries for Sal
- Food Play (my very visual kids cookbook!)
- Bee-Bim Bop
- Lailah’s Lunchbox
- Magic Ramen
- Frankie’s Favorite Food
- Fry Bread
- Our Little Kitchen
- Sandwiches and Samosas
- Cora Cooks Pancit
- Thank You Omu!
- Tomatoes for Neela
Body Positive and Inclusive Food Books
I did my best to include books that don’t include food shaming (though some of that is subjective) and that include a wide assortment of food experiences. Please read through any books before reading them with your child—whether you’re reading books from my list or any others—to be sure they talk about food in a positive way.
(For example, the Berenstein Bears are often talking about how terrible broccoli tastes, so we avoid that when we can since my kids actually like broccoli!)
Favorite Independent Book Stores
I put together a list of my favorite independent book stores and recommendations from my Instagram followers to help you find a local store to support. Find the full list here arranged by state for easy ordering!
Best Toddler Books: Board Books for Kids
These books about food for kids are perfect for 1, 2, and 3 year olds. They’re fun to read and fun to look at so the kids can enjoy them on their own as well as with an adult. All are priced below $10, unless noted.
1.
Food FacesA sweet board book with animal faces made from food—and a really great way to talk about food with zero pressure and all fun!
2. Yummy YuckyA sweet little board book of yummy and yucky opposites.
3. Eating the AlphabetThis book is bright, colorful, and can help your little one learn the names of all sorts of produce.
These short books feature fun chants about fruits and veggies that your littles will love…and might possibly get stuck in your head!
5. Go Go GrapesThis is by the same author as Rah Rah Radishes and has a similar catchy cadence!
6.
Pandas Love PicklesWith animals and food, this is a board book all about trying new foods. The illustrations are so fun and it’s a great way to help the kids practice identifying foods they might not see often. Priced at under $15.
7. Llama Llama Yum Yum YumWho doesn’t love Llama Llama? So fun! And this short and sweet board book is even scratch and sniff!
8.
We’re Going to the Farmer’s MarketI can practically recite this book for you, we’ve read it so many times. (“To market, to market, we are on our way…”). This is a fun read about going to the farmer’s market to pick up all sorts of fun foods.
We like to pick out our favorite foods along the way.
We love these books by Amy Kraus Rosenthal and the set of board books is a wonderful gift. Priced at under $15.
10.
If You Give a Mouse a CookieWe might have three copies of this one and my two year old loves her board book the best! Priced at under $15.
11. The Best Mouse Cookie
Same silly approach, new fun food!
12.
JamberryThis one is so fun to read and it’s been a favorite in our house since our oldest was a baby. The rhymes are fun to read and my kids always love it when the canoe goes over the waterfall. Definitely add this one to your collection if you don’t already have it.
Story Books About Food
For your older toddlers, toddlers with longer attention spans, and elementary-aged kids, these are our favorite longer books about food for kids. All are priced below $10, unless noted.
13.
SpoonAmy Krauss Rosenthal is a favorite, and we love this book about a little spoon who’s upset about all the things he can’t do…and then realizes that he has special skills that other utensils envy. It’s sweet and fun to read.
14. The Bee Who SpokeThis one is for older toddlers and preschoolers since it’s fairly long, but it’s such a sweet story about a girl on a bike in France and her adventures with a little bee friend. Priced at under $15.
15.
Farm AnatomyEven if you only flip through and look at all of the photos, this book is a beauty. We love looking at all of the farm animals and vegetables, and talking about what we like to eat (and don’t:). My oldest kiddo also likes to use it for drawing inspiration. Priced at under $15.
16. Bread and Jam for FrancesThis has been a favorite in our house for a long time and it’s a nice reference point when L wants to eat the same thing over and over (and over).
Talk about food demands with the help of this silly story.
18. How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?Food by food, this book traces back ingredients to their origins. It’s interesting, beautiful and it has nice tear-resistant pages that are incredibly durable.
19.
Creepy CarrotsWhile the images are sort of spooky and dark, the story has such a fun ending that this is a joy to read to kids. (And it’s nice that the carrots get the last word:) Priced at under $15.
20.
Blueberries for SalThis might take top running in my house for favorite food related book. (We also love the related One Morning in Maine.)
21.
What’s CookingWith an engaging question and answer format and beautiful illustrations by our favorite Julia Rothman, this is a great book for kids who are curious. (That’s nearly all of them!) Priced at under $18.
22.
Dragons Love TacosIf you don’t have this book, you need to get it for your kids. It’s so fun!. (And the sequel is great too!
23.
Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsThis is a classic and it’s so fun to imagine a world that might be raining our favorite (and not so favorite) foods.
24. Lenny the Lobster
A dad and son duo wrote this book about a lobster who’s invited to a party. And you get to decide how you want the story to end!
25. Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramandan Story
A sweet story about a little girl who’s new to the US and has to navigate fasting for Ramandan in a school. It’s a great way to share how we can be respectful of each other’s cultures. Priced at under $20.
26. The Sandwich Swap
This story is about different sandwiches and how we can still be friends even when we like different things. (A good reminder for adults these days too.) Priced at under $15.
27. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
Told in verse, this book shares about the role of fry bread in Native American culture—and has really delightful illustrations.
Priced at under $15.
28. Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuko Ando
This is the story of how ramen came to be—and it may just make you crave a big bowl right now! Priced at under $15.
29. Our Little Kitchen
This is the story of a neighborhood soup kitchen coming together to provide love and warm bellies. It’s sort of like an intro to graphic novels with the illustration styles and we love the diverse range of people and food included in the pages. Priced at under $20.
30. Busy Little Hands: Food Play
You know I had to include my kids cookbook here! It’s fun to look at and read together, and also to use in the kitchen.
Related Posts
The post was first published November 2020.
60+ Kid Books About Food for Babies, Toddlers and Kids (Curated by Our Early Childhood Education Expert)
Inside: Discover over 60 engaging kid books about food for your baby, toddler or older child. These books are also great for picky eaters, because exposing them to new foods in low-pressure settings can help them become more comfortable with the food.
“We gotta try new food, because it might taste good,” says Daniel Tiger.
Beyond telling a story, books can introduce ideas, words, new foods and helpful mantras to our kids. Cuddling up with a good book is a great way to build a relationship with your child, model language, and set the stage for reading and writing later on.
Why kid books about food are helpful
Kid books about food can help teach your child about foods they may not have yet tried, and get them more comfortable with the idea of trying new foods.
Interested in exposing your toddler to different kinds of vegetables? Grab a copy of Rah, Rah, Radishes! and chant along with the colorful photos of veggies.
Want your preschooler to try butternut squash for dinner? Try reading Sophie’s Squash, a cute, funny story about a child who cares for a squash like it’s her baby.
Looking for more tips to get kids to try specific kinds of food? Visit our picky eater food guide.
Best books for picky eaters
If your child is a picky eater, these books can also help.
Select a book that talks about a food you’d like your toddler to try. Exposing picky eaters to new foods in a low-pressure way, like reading a book, can help them become more comfortable with the food.
Our favorite books about food for kids, toddlers and babies
Food-themed books for kids are a great way to expose them to many different kinds of foods! Here are a few of our favorite books for kids about food.
Best books about food for babies
Choose sturdy board or fabric books with simple, large pictures. Books with one word, short phrases, or simple sentences on each page are the best books for babies. It is important for babies to hear language but their attention span is short.
Consider allowing your baby to hold a toy as you read, asking, “What’s that?” as you point to a picture of a tomato or apple, and letting them get up when they want.
Songs and poems are a plus!
Moo! Moo! And Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!
Baby, Let’s Eat!
Yum Yum Baby: First Words for Little Foodies
My First 100 Food we Eat
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Pandas Love Pickles
Best food books for toddlers
For toddlers, the best books about food have a little more action and detail in the pictures.
Most toddlers enjoy books with songs, poems, rhymes, but they are also interested in simple stories with a problem and solution or cause and effect.
Snuggle with your toddler or invite them to sit next to you if they prefer and enjoy a story about a mouse on a quest to stop a hungry bear from eating his strawberry!
Their attention span is getting longer but they still may want to play with a toy as you read or get up before the book is done.
Daniel Tries a New Food
Eating the Alphabet
Soup Day
Bear Wants More
Rah, Rah, Radishes!
Go, Go, Grapes!
Bee Bim Bop
Vegetables in Underwear
Vegetables in Halloween Costumes
Vegetables in Holiday Underwear
Fruits in Suits
Eat Your Colors
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
Best books about food for big kids
Older children will enjoy books about food that have basic storylines, interesting pictures, and are fun to read aloud in one sitting.
Books with songs, poems, and rhymes are still good options.
As children get older, they can understand longer, more complicated stories and often enjoy food books that are connected to their own experiences.
Children love hearing the same books read again and again (which can be a great food exposure for picky eaters!), so choose books both you and your children enjoy! Dragons who love tacos? Yes please!
Magic Ramen
Every Night is Pizza Night
Dragons Love Tacos
Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel
From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate
Blueberries for Sal
The Boy Who Loved Broccoli
Too Many Mangos
Bread and Jam for Frances
Jalapeno Bagels
The Vegetables We Eat
Veggies with Wedgies
Comiendo el Arcoíris – Eating the Rainbow
The Great Garden Escape
Sophie’s Squash
Stone Soup
Stone Soup
Stone Soup
Where does Broccoli Come from?
Where do Bananas Come From?
Let’s Go Nuts!: Seeds We Eat
Oliver’s Fruit Salad
Oliver’s Vegetables
Squash Boom Beet An Alphabet for Healthy, Adventurous Eaters
Goodnight, Veggies
How Are You Peeling?
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas
Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli
Anansi and the Talking Melon
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months
Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup
The Cool Bean
The Good Egg
The Great Eggscape
Chicks and Salsa
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato
We are Fungi
Supertato
The Enormous Potato
Pumpkin Soup
Community Soup
Little Sweet Potato
The Gigantic Sweet Potato
Zora’s Zucchini
Little Chef
Fruit Bowl
One Bean
Cora Cooks Pancit
Children about food.
Top 5 children's books on nutrition June 1 is International Children's Day. This holiday is intended to remind that children, like other people, have rights - to life, security, self-expression and others - and that it is the responsibility of adults to observe these rights. We, as the country's main organic publication, care most about preserving the health of the younger generation. And we propose to discuss how to form in children an idea of the relationship between health and food and proper eating habits - with the help of books.
Modern parents no longer agree to feed their children through I do not want products that the pediatrician “prescribed”. There is a sea of information and opportunities today: pediatric or pedagogical complementary foods, cereals, juices, or - oh my God! - bone broth as the first complementary food, at what age to add salt and sugar to food, whether to decide on intuitive nutrition and, reluctantly, wait for the child to eat rolls and intuitively reach for fish - and a million more questions in which responsibility again falls take over.
As always, personal example works best when parents themselves have a healthy relationship with food and eat high-quality fresh food at home. And in addition to this, it's great to read books with children about food - about where it comes from, how to cook properly, what actually happens inside us with a swallowed piece of carrot or a sip of milk, and how food affects well-being. From a wide variety, we have chosen 5 books - get acquainted!
"Meet the zucchini", Natalia Volkova, ed. "Walking into history"
The first book on the list so directly and calls to get acquainted with the most popular vegetables, fruits and berries. On each spread there is a history of origin, a mention in children's literature (from "Turnip" and "Chippolino" to "Cinderella" and "Snow White"), interesting facts (they learned to grow potatoes in space) and a portrait in verse. The next time you offer your child a previously unloved vegetable, try to trump with the information that the cucumber is a relative of the sweet melon - the chances that the child decides to try it increase significantly! The book can be read with children from the age of two.
“Everything is delicious. About favorite and unloved food, the smell of pies, snacks and various yummy things, Anke Kuhl and Alexandra Maksiner, ed. "Melik-Pashayev"
My favorite! A sea of life facts from the world of edibles: why some people don’t eat beef, others don’t eat pork, and still others eat only plants, what Ayana from Northern Ethiopia and Elsa from southern Germany eat for breakfast, and even a comparison of the quality of products from an organic and ordinary farm. While reading, there are many reasons to talk about related topics - about geography, ecology, anatomy - and about the fact that all people are very different and there is food and company for everyone to their liking. We read from three years to infinity, delving into the question of interest.
“Delicious story. Journey of fruits and spices from distant lands, Dimitri Delma, Guillaume Reinard, Ed. Walking into History
Another food-related book from Walking into History for middle school children.
It turns out that many of our favorite drinks and spices became available to us thanks to the first brave travelers, and because of them whole wars and upheavals unfolded! This book is an occasion to reflect on the value of familiar foods and try something more exotic for children like nutmeg or breadfruit. And as you know, the more varied the diet, the greater the health benefits.
"Tim's adventures in the world of bacteria", Masha Kosovskaya, Dima Alekseev, Alla Tyakht, Sasha Tyakht, ed. Clever
Strictly speaking, this book is not about food. This is the first book on today's trendy topic - the microbiome - addressed to children. Very clearly, with the help of infographics, children will learn what microorganisms are, where exactly and why they live inside our body, and how to improve their health with the help of friendly bacteria. Of course, we couldn’t get around the topic of nutrition, and it turned out that when choosing what to eat and what it’s better to stay away from, we should think not only about ourselves, but also about our many micro-inhabitants.
More fiber, less sugar - these are no longer empty words that mom and dad repeat with enviable regularity, but valuable advice based on facts.
Cookbooks of favorite characters
source: https://milakamilla.livejournal.com
Finally, there are cookbook volumes in several book series at once. For example, this is the "Big Cookbook of Gorodok". Author and illustrator of popular Wimmelbuchs (books to look at) about Zimnyaya Gorodok. "Spring", "Summer" and "Autumn" books Suzanne Rotraut Berner co-wrote a cookbook with nutritionist Dagmar von Kramm. Familiar characters cook simple seasonal dishes from fresh ingredients, they don't always turn out perfectly, but they smile and keep experimenting! Very inspiring for kids to try their hand at the kitchen.
Several recipes that accompany exciting stories can also be found in the book "Karlchen Plays and Learns". Books about Karlchen the rabbit was my daughter's first favorite book series at 2 years old, the authority of familiar characters helps to persuade me to try something that without the "legend" the child would definitely refuse.
And for fans of Pettson and Findus, Cooking with Pettson and Findus has 30 seasonal recipes prefaced with humorous and wise stories from village life.
source: http://p-s-m.ru
Books about food, products and digestion - Best Children's Books
Masha has lunch
Age: 0+
Silva Kaputikyan: Masha has lunch 9007
Lunch time has come, and everyone is hurrying to the table: the faithful dog Arapka, and the cat Murka, and the laying hen. Everyone did a great job and deserved a treat. A kind poem by Silva Kaputikyan will remind a child about the daily routine, and drawings by Andrey Brey, a recognized master of children's book illustration, will bring joy from communicating with a book. Order
Food. How does she feel
Age: 6+
Giancarlo Ascari: Food. How does she feel
Food has many tastes and smells and is constantly on the move. Food appears above the ground, and under the ground, comes to us from there and from here.
When we like it, we are ready to "lick our fingers"; when we don’t like it, we spit it out (although, of course, it’s better not to do this in public). Did you know that carrots began to be grown in Afghanistan 5,000 years ago? That pasta was invented by the Arabs in the 9th century, and the first chops were cooked by Mongolian nomads? And the famous corn flakes were invented by a doctor whose patients needed to... Order
How does a pear get into the brain?
Age: 0+
Ilya Kolmanovsky: How does a pear get into the brain?
How do we eat? How do we know what to eat and what not to eat? How is the tongue connected to the stomach, and how is the stomach connected to the brain? What is a healthy eating pyramid and what happens to us if we ate something wrong? The author of the book, Ilya Kolmanovsky, knows best how to talk to children about science, because he wrote the first book in the series "Why don't birds fall?", answered children's questions in his podcast for many years, and now runs the biology laboratory at the Polytechnic University (with whom we published this wonderful book).
Order
Miracle - you and trillions of your residents
Age: 16+
Jan Schütten: Miracle - you and trillions of your residents
This book is about you. More precisely, not really. It is about what preceded your birth, about how two completely random cells turn into a person, about how your brain is 86 billion neurons and 100 billion glial cells. About cells that are even more amazing than Star Wars spaceships, about substances that can make you clean your room, about Andreas Vesalius, who stole corpses from graves, about Michel Lotito, who ate an entire plane, and about that you have every right to speak of yourself in the plural, because you and the bacteria living in you are a very large company. In general, this is a book that you are a real miracle. Order
Children about nutrition. An incredible journey through Nutrilandia
Age: 6+
Ekaterina Mirimanova: About nutrition for children.
Incredible journey through Nutrilandia
This book is for curious kids like you! After all, you probably want to learn a lot of new and interesting things, as well as become the strongest and most dexterous. As you travel through the world's most fun country, Nutrilandia, you'll complete exciting quests, read gripping comics, and do some unforgettable exploration. We wish you an incredibly tasty and active journey! Order
Educational tales
Age: 0+
Amber Stewart: Capricious
Funny, touching and instructive verse tales about forest kids bring up very useful qualities in children - prudence, patience, generosity and courage. Their author, contemporary English writer Amber Stuart, receives many letters of thanks from her parents. Order
If you want to be healthy
Age: 0+
Elena Kachur: If you want to be healthy
Why and how to exercise? What is hardening? What food is healthy and what is not? Why can't you sit at the computer for a long time? How to wash and brush your teeth, sunbathe and swim? Young readers will learn a lot of interesting and useful things about a healthy lifestyle.
Order
Princess and Polka Dots
Age: 0+
Caryl Hart: Princess and Polka Dots
A prophylactic funny tale for young princesses (and princes) who don't want to eat vegetables... Everything was cloudless in Lily's life... until this nice girl refused to eat green peas. The doctor discovered a dangerous disease in Lily - princess syndrome - and prescribed her life in the royal palace. Order
Charming intestines. How the most powerful organ governs us
Age: 12+
Julia Enders: Charming gut. How the most powerful organ governs us
Some may be shocked by the researcher's frank treatment of the "forbidden" topics of digestion and defecation; some may find the experiments on mice and volunteer patients described in this monograph too extreme, even unacceptable. Someone will doubt the omnipotence of tiny organisms that control our lives. And for some, the assumption that the intestines have their own "brain" and "nervous system" will generally seem absurd and unscientific.
But remember that the new and unknown always frightens a person, such is his nature striving for self-preservation, and this book is just another small step forward on the path to discovering the secrets and mysteries of our body. Order
Secrets of Anatomy
Age: 6+
Carol Donner: Secrets of Anatomy
How is my own body? Why doesn't the stomach eat itself? Why is the immune system needed? Max and Molly, the characters in the book Secrets of Anatomy, like all children, ask these questions. Only unlike ordinary children from the real world, reading encyclopedias, asking parents and teachers, Max and Molly had an incredible story. Once, in their grandmother's attic, they found an old book on human anatomy, and as soon as they opened the book, the children were blinded by a sudden flash of bright light. And now, Max and Molly are no longer in the attic of their grandmother's house, but travel inside a living human body.
