Favorite children's books that are food themed?
I have a 2year old. My favorites from my own childhood are Berenstain Bears "Too much junk food" which actually has nice pictures of old timey attitudes towards nutrition, now back in style. And "Bread and Jam for Francis" which is an ode to young Foodies. At the end Francis's mom gives her a lobster salad sandwich as part of breaking her bread and jam fast.
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Chocolatechipkt
Sep 25, 2011 03:10 PM
Beatrix Potter's books
"Jelly Beans for Breakfast," by Miriam Young
"In the Night Kitchen" and "Chicken Soup with Rice," by Maurice Sendak (among others) -
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I don't think it was a whole book, just a tale, but one of my favorites was "The Little Red Hen."
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Just remembered another one. The Amelia Bedelia series was one of my favorites, and I remember one book in particular had her baking chocolate chip cookies and mixing crushed potato chips into the batter to make them crunchy. 5 year old charmedgirl thought that was freaking genius and insisted her dad try it with her.
ETA: just googled. It's Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping.
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corneygirl
Sep 23, 2011 09:15 AM
I always liked the Encyclopedia Brown series, and one of my favorites was a mysteries with recipes interspersed. I remember making brownies and possibly lemon curd from that book.
There was also Bread and Jam for Francis about a little critter-girl who would only eat bread and jam. Eventually she comes around, and I think the description of her eating an egg with a little container of salt and pepper made me so crazy for lunch boxes and accessories.
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re: small h
corneygirl
Sep 23, 2011 08:43 PM
I loved them as well! I still think about her unpacking her (or was it her friend) unpacking the more complicated lunch and eating it deliberately as I make my own... It's no wonder that I blocked out what kind of critter she was since I live in Hawkeye country and we aren't big Badgers fans!
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Wonderful post! Some other favorites: The Duchess Who Baked A Cake (hysterical rhymes); Cookie Count is an amazing pop-up counting book that has gorgeous, gorgeous art; How to Make an Apple Pie is about a girl who travels around the world gathering all the ingredients for baking a pie; How Are You Peeling is a photo book of food (like a pepper with black-eyed peas for eyes) that looks like animals -- it's a series. The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. I could go on and on and on...
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srsone
Sep 22, 2011 10:46 AM
...another one i remember...about a town that had bugs and they got rid of them with a giant jelly sandwich....dont remember the name of it tho...
and one thats probably not so PC anymore.. but my grandmother had a book about the little boy who came across tigers and traded his clothes so they wouldnt eat him and they argued about who had the better clothes and chased each other until they turned into butter...
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re: srsone
Shrinkrap
Sep 22, 2011 07:04 PM
I remember that!
The Story of Little Black Sambo
" Sambo is a South Indian boy who encounters four hungry tigers, and surrenders his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella so they will not eat him. The tigers chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stor...
The book has been controversial in Japan as well, both for racism and piracy. Little Black Sambo (ちびくろサンボ Chibikuro Sambo?) was first published in Japan by Iwanami Shoten Publishing in 1953. The book was a pirated version of the original, and it contained drawings by Frank Dobias that had appeared in a US edition published by Macmillan Publishers in 1927. Sambo was illustrated as an African boy rather than as an Indian boy. Although it did not contain Bannerman's original illustrations, the pirated book was long mistaken for the original version in Japan. It sold over 1,000,000 copies before it was pulled off the shelves in 1988 after being accused of depicting racist characterisations. Just after Iwanami's success, most of the Japanese publishers, including Kodansha and Shogakukan, the two largest publishers in Japan, published their versions of pirated Little Black Sambo. In 1988, all these publishers followed Iwanami and withdrew their books from the market altogether.-
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re: Shrinkrap
Could it be "What's for Lunch, Charley?" Charley is a boy who takes a sandwich to lunch, but the new girl brings a little tablecloth, a thermos of tomato soup, a chicken leg, salt and pepper shakers, etc. Later in the book Charley forgets his lunch, so he goes to a fancy restaurant and orders exactly the same thing the new girl brought. I had that book when I was a child and I loved it!
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I can't believe no one's mentioned The Seven Silly Eaters, by Mary Ann Hoberman. All the kids are picky eaters and the mom has to deal with their crazy specialized food preferences. Really great illustrations and a rhyming story that's fun to read. My daughter asks for this story all the time.
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lynnlato
Sep 19, 2011 04:04 PM
My kids and I LOVE Jerry Seinfeld's book Halloween. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious. I read it to their classes every year around Halloween when they both were in elementary school. You can hear Jerry reciting the book as you read (and admittedly I start speaking like him when I read it aloud). The kids all laugh and I still find it funny as hell when I'm reading it.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is my hands down favorite children's book. I found a first edition on ebay (or maybe it's the 2nd ed.) after my first child was born and saved it for her. She loved it like I did, when she was old enough to appreciate it.
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Shrinkrap
Sep 17, 2011 10:18 AM
I immediately thought of Bread And Jamm.... but only after an image from a book I hope someone knows the name of. The image is of a little girl who brings her lunch to school with a little table cloth, fork, knife, salt and pepper shakers. Another image that always stuck with me is of the last page in the Little Match Girl.
Edit; OMG! I just looked up Little Match Girl and realized she died in the end! Not my memory; mine was of a feast. Bummer.
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Delucacheesemonger
Sep 16, 2011 02:05 PM
Poky Little Puppy was my favorite as a child, my kids liked it as well, and still have a copy. mmmmm pudding.
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Stone Soup was a favorite as a kid and is at least partially to blame with my life long fascination with soup.
Pascual and the kitchen angels, and The Popcorn Book, by Tomie DePaulo, who also did Strega Nona.
Bee-bim bop! by Linda Sue Park, which will introduce your child to Korean food.
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ttoommyy
Sep 9, 2011 08:27 AM
"Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" are both full of food and eating references. Here's but one:
Beautiful Soup
BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP! -
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512window
Sep 7, 2011 12:02 PM
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky - it's about a girl and her mother picking blueberries in the Maine woods. Your kid will love it.
When he/she is a little older, you can read them his short story about the machine that makes doughnuts.
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re: 512window
Caitlin McGrath
Sep 22, 2011 01:24 PM
McClosky's book with the doughnut machine - indeed for slightly older children - is Homer Price, a favorite from my childhood. It's not a short story, actually, but a chapter book. My grandfather was art director in the children's department of Viking back in the day (responsible for the design of the books), and McClosky was one of the authors he worked with.
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The first one I thought of was “cloudy with a chance of meatballs” that blew my mind as a kid and looks completely different than the recent movie. The second one that comes to mind is Tomie dePaola’s “Strega Nona” from Amazon: this ancient tale... reveals the agony and ecstasy of pasta power. Here are some more:
Maurice Sendak: In the Night Kitchen
Peggy Parish: Amelia Bedelia (I always laughed when she “Dressed the Chicken” and her pie making skills saved her job)
Tomie dePaola: Pancakes for Breakfast and The Popcorn BookI did a little Amazon search because you peaked my interest and Lidia Bastianich has a children’s book about Italian Christmas traditions that focus on food it is called “Nonna Tell me a Story”
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"Bread and Honey"...by Frank Asch. It was a Little Bear book. We had quite a few Little Bear books when my kids were young. They loved when I read to them and this book was the best Little Bear book. In a nutshell, little Ben, the bear's mom bakes some bread. She tells him he can have some with honey when he comes home from school. The bear obsesses about the bread and honey. He draws a picture of his mom baking the bread. His friends all find fault with the picture, try to improve on it and basically ruin it. However, when Ben comes home, mommy loves the drawing and gives him bread and honey. It is just a sweet book that my kids (and this mommy) loved and I never grew tired of reading it. Sometimes, we would end the book and have some bread and honey with a cup of tea!
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marthasway Sep 7, 2011 06:52 AM
Starting at the beginning: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I was a bookseller for almost 20 years, and VHC was always my favorite for babies and toddlers. I've probably sold thousands in all the formats over the years and have certainly given scores. Counting, colors, the days of the week, it's a classic.
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I love reading stories to my children and when there is something about food in them that might make them want to eat something different, even better. In my many hours of internet searching, I have just come across a blog that has recently been launched that is entirely about children's stories all with a food theme. The link is: www.foodytales.com I like the idea of reading a story to your child/ren and then recreating the meal that is contained within it. Anyway, thought it might be of interest!
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MandalayVA
May 18, 2011 07:58 PM
Nitpick--the book's title is "Bread and Jam for Frances," not "Francis." One of my favorites as a little one, too.
You'll have to wait until your kid's a little older, but the "Little House" books have some great descriptions of both single meals and general food preparation. "Little House in the Big Woods" describes a hog butchering, with Laura and Mary eagerly awaiting the finishing of the pig's tail roast. One of the later books--I want to say "Little Town on the Prairie"--describes the making of an actual blackbird pie, made from birds that destroyed the Ingalls family's crops.
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I used to love reading "Cloudy with and Chance of Meatballs" to my daughter. :)
When I was a kid, I'm in my 50s now, I loved a book that had the title "......and the Chocolate Witch". I don't remember the first part of the title but I loved reading about a land that was made of food.
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My daughter is 4 and loves Fanny goes to Chez Panisse by Alice Waters. It is a longer book so I never read the entire story in one sitting. It has easy recipes in the back. She also enjoys a book called "Your Food" which is part of a series by Green Team and is published by Crabtree. It's a fact filled book about where our food comes from and ethical/sustainable eating. It is geared towards older kids but she likes it anyhow because there are pictures. She also enjoys "too much junk food" and "something good" by Robert Munsch.
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