Looking to inspire young children to cook? Try getting that inspiration from books for kids! Every book on this list includes a recipe inside the book. Let’s get cooking and reading.
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Books About Food and Cooking for Children
If you love the story of The Little Red Hen, then you are sure to enjoy this version too. In Cook-A-Doodle-Doo,Rooster pulls out his Great Granny’s cookbook and finds a yummy recipe for strawberry shortcake.He thenfinds some friends- Turtle, Iguana and Potbellied Pig to help him create the dessert. Well, lots of mistakes and learning along the way finally result in a yummy strawberry delight.
The sidebars of the book include lots of useful cooking information for added discussion and learning. Cook-A-Doodle-Doo was one of our Family Dinner Book Club selections.
Recipe Included: Strawberry Shortcake
Bee Bim Bop by Linda Sue Park is one of our all-time favorite books to read-aloud. It’s the story of a family who is busy preparing a yummy Korean dinner of Bee Bim Bop. The book is full of rhyme and rhythm. The recipe that is included in the book is also a favorite too!
Recipe Included: Bee Bim Bop
Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco is the story of a young girl on a farm who is a bit scared about the approaching storm. The grandmother helps to distract the young girl by taking her to gather the ingredients needed to make a special cake. You won’t want to miss the secret ingredient in this cake!
Recipe Included: Thunder Cake
Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell is a beautiful multi-cultural title about a grandfather who takes his grandchildren out to the garden on a wet summer day to pick vegetables. The colorful bounty is turned into a wonderful stew.
Don’t miss other soup books and recipes that we have featured.
Recipe Included: Vegetable Stew
Logan’s Greenhouseby JaNay Brown-Wood is a great winter read. Logan is looking for carrots to prepare soup. Can you help him find them in the greenhouse? Look for three other books in this series covering the other seasons which also include seasonal recipes.
Recipe Included: Carrot Soup
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman is a journey across the world to collect the ingredients and tools needed to create a scrumptious pie. This is a perfect book for reading after an apple-picking trip.
Recipe Included: Apple Pie
For more read-alouds about apples, check out this list.—> Books About Apples
Extra Cheese, Please! by Cris Peterson is the journey of mozzarella cheese from cow to pizza. Of course, if you live in St. Louis the cheese of choice on pizza is provel! I like that this book includes photographs to help depict all the steps.
Recipe Included: Pizza
For more read alouds about pizza, check out this list.—> Books About Pizza
Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing tells the story of a young boy who is trying to decide what to bring for International Day at school. He decides on an item that blends his father’s Jewish background with his mother’s Mexican background.
Recipe Included: Jalapeno Bagels
Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle is a perfect read for one of my favorite breakfast foods. There are lots of books about pancakes. That could be a whole book list on its own. But, I’m partial to Carle’s story.
Recipe Included: Pancakes
Crêpes by Suzette by Monica Wellington takes us through the streets of Paris observing all the sights and sounds.
Recipe Included: Crepes
Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen Lindsay is the story of a family that problem solves during a drought. They save the only crop left- sweet potatoes and create pies for the Harvest celebration.
Recipe included: Sweet Potato Pie
Dumpling Dreams by Carrie Clickard is the story of chef Joyce Chen. The book has lots of yummy recipe variations at the end.
Recipe included: Dumplings
Usher in fall with Time for Cranberries by Lisl H. Detlefsen which shows how cranberries are harvested.
Recipe included: Cranberry Sauce and Cranberry Pie
Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed shares the process of how daal is made.
Recipe included: Daal
Nacho’s Nachos by Sandra Nickel is the story of a man who invented one of our favorite snacks- nachos.
Recipe included: Nachos
Would you like to see me cook/bake some of these recipes? I’ve got a whole playlist for you to check out in my Cooking Book by Book series.—-> Cooking Book by Book
What is your favorite book about food?
