5 Books About Life on the Farm
Do your kids ever ask questions about where their food comes from? Looking for some engaging story books to read (and learn) together?? Here are five of our all time favorite story books for kids about life on the farm that help to explain how food is grown and transported to grocery stores or farmers markets. A big thank you to our friends at Stonyfield for sponsoring today’s Story Bites collection of books and a kid-friendly activity idea to go along with them!
5 Story Books About Life on the Farm
1. Extra Cheese, Please! by Cris Peterson — You will want to make and eat pizza after reading this book that explains the process of how milk becomes mozzarella cheese. Beginning at the farm, and following the process through the cheese plant, and ultimately to the grocery store, this book does a great job of explaining the cheese making process. Recommended for ages 4-8.
2. Who Grew My Soup? by Tom Darbyshire — In this rhyming book, Phineas Quinn questions his mother about the vegetable soup she serves him for lunch and where each of the vegetables come from. A man in a flying tomato balloon comes and together they fly from farm to farm learning about the farmers who grow the vegetables to make the soup. Very entertaining and educational. Highly recommend for read-aloud storytelling.
3. Farm by Elisha Cooper — If you read one book to your child about life on the farm, this is the one to read. Beautiful illustrations, and very well-written. This book shows a husband, wife, and their two children and how their life changes throughout the seasons on the farm. It shows how the children are involved in helping with the farm, and some of the challenges farmers must face. Because of the detail in the smaller illustrations, I highly recommend this book for one-on-one reading sessions, or storytelling with very small groups.
4. Living on Farms by Allan Fowler — This book is part of the Rookie Read-About Geography series that explores different habitats around the world. It is illustrated with photographs and describes different kinds of farms, how farms have changed over the years, some of the farming equipment that is used, and the people who work on large and small farms. Recommended for ages 4-6.
5. Molly’s Organic Farm by Carol L. Malnor and Trina L. Hunner — A beautifully illustrated (with watercolors) book that explains the process of farming organically through the eyes of a stray cat that wonders onto an organic farm. This book also explores how the farm changes with the seasons. There are supplemental activities included at the end of the book to further explore. Free creative lesson plans are also included on the publisher’s website at Dawn Publications.
Activity Idea — Make Your Own Yogurt Parfaits!
This is such a simple activity, and you can use whatever items you may already have on-hand. Create a Make-Your-Own Yogurt Parfait Bar using small bowls filled with different toppings such as dried fruit, nuts, dark chocolate chips, wheat germ, dry cereal, honey, coconut flakes, crumbled graham crackers, granola, or fresh fruit (especially berries).
Invite your child to create a yogurt parfait of her very own! While you’re building your parfaits, talk about the different toppings and where they may have come from. Which ones had to travel the farthest to reach you? Which parfait ingredients may be grown on farms near you?
Have fun!!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Stonyfield. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure policy here.