Children's books about food

Being a lover of all things culinary meant that my daughter was bound to fall in love with food too. From very early on, we have enjoyed baking together and as she is growing older we are experimenting with new tastes and enjoying time in the kitchen. There are lots of great recipes books out there for children and families, that contain ideas for fun, functional and balanced meal ideas. For now, we are in the experimenting phase and are not too worried about following recipes word for word; it's about making food fun and varied. Our other love is books and I can't wait until we can read food inspired children's books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach.  There are, however, lots of children's books that have a food theme but are not too serious. Here are our top 5 children's books with food at the heart of the story

Hooray For Bread

We came across this book recently whilst in our local library. Bread is a firm favourite in our household so it was an immediate choice as soon as my daughter spotted the book. Written by children's favourite Alan Ahlberg, the book tells the tale of the journey that one loaf of bread takes throughout the day. Lovingly made my a baker ( which is becoming more and more rare these days), the bread is enjoyed by everybody from baker's wife to the mouse in the kitchen. If you love making bread, eating bread and just generally drooling over bread, this book is ideal and is a great opportunity to introduce your little one to bread making.

Grandpa's Garden

This book will enable children to learn about how food grows and healthier food options.  'Grandpa's Garden' is a beautifully told story, following Billy from early spring to late summer as he helps his grandpa on his vegetable patch. They dig the hard ground, sow rows of seeds, and keep them watered and safe from slugs. When harvest time arrives they can pick all the vegetables and fruit they have grown. Children will be drawn in by the poetry of the language and the warm illustrations, while also catching the excitement of watching things grow! Written by Stella Fry and illustrated by Sheila Moxley, this book is a very popular for Grandparents wanting to pass on their love of gardening to their grandchildren. With great end notes on the vegetable featured in the book and ideas on how you can grow your own, this is a fun way to get to know vegetables and encourage healthy eating.

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon

This Barefoot Books classic, is a favourite amongst parents, children and teachers all over the world. Meet Herb, a dragon who knows how to stay true to his values even in the stickiest of situations. When he is captured by the castle's knights in armour, vegetarian Herb is faced with a difficult decision: will he eat meat in order to save his own life? A fun tale that is great for all children, no matter what their diet. The endnotes include a super quick and easy recipe for some of the spicy salsa that Herb loves so much!

The Beeman

Find out where honey comes from as Grandpa the Beeman teaches the basics of beekeeping to his young grandson. This rhyming story includes endnotes full of essential facts about bees, beekeeping, honey, and the vital part that bees play in the natural world. With a tasty apple and honey muffins recipe at the and of the books, this is another great book to inspire a little home baking.

Happy Harry's Cafe

I think this may be in my top 5 children's books, I just love it. Michael Rosen is brilliant.The book is  good-natured joke about a forgetful bear told with wit and humour. Happy Harry serves great soup at his cafe. It's so good that his friends - Matt the Cat, Jo the Crow, Ryan the Lion and Robin the Robin - all rush to get there before it runs out.But today somethings wrong with Matt - he says the soup's no good. Harry's shocked - until he finds out the soup's no good because Matt has no spoon to eat it with! An old joke is brilliantly brought to life for very young children by Michael Rosen and Richard Holland. "Happy Harry's Cafe" is a great read aloud text with sparklingly stylish illustrations, a cast of charming characters and a delightful "soup song" for the grand finale. Altogether now….The soup is good, the soup is good…..