Here’s a small serving of books, each with something extra—a recipe! The stories stand on their own, of course, but the opportunity to bring the book into the kitchen with your family enriches the experience of the story, and demonstrates how reading is useful in many ways. Additionally, it might even be an incentive for the little ones to try a new food! As you read your way through the library, you’ll discover many more great stories with a recipe tucked in.
Bee-bim Bop! By Linda Sue Park & Ho Baek Lee
This rhyming book with a catchy repeated line is one of my favorites. It’s beautifully-illustrated, and features a child who loves to help her family get ready for a meal. Better yet, it just sounds fun--children at storytime always end up jumping in to chant along with the text!
The Giant Carrot, by Jan Peck & Barry Root
Another fun picture book with plenty of repeated phrases, this story finds a whole family dreaming of how they’ll eat this huge carrot—if only they can manage to get it out of the ground! I still haven’t tried that recipe for carrot pudding.
The Ugly Vegetables, by Grace Lin
A little girl wishes her mom would plant beautiful flowers like their neighbors. When the ugly vegetables become soup, though, it's the neighbors who want to trade!
Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel
Fans of the Little Red Hen will be interested to learn that great-grandson is a baker, as well. Rooster has a lot of help—but it is not necessarily helpful help. The story is funny, there are a lot of lessons about kitchens & cooking along the way, and there’s a tasty recipe at the end.
Pizza at Sally’s, by Monica Wellington
Your little pizza lover will learn how the pies are made, as Sally (and her cat) prepare to open her pizza to a very appreciative & hungry neighborhood of children.
Eight Animals Bake a Cake, by Susan Middleton Elya & Lee Chapman
Animal lovers will love this story, which even throws in a bit of Spanish as it depicts eight good friends cooperating for a very sweet result.
And finally, a whole storybook full of classic tales:
Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literacy Cookbook for Young Readers & Eaters, by Jane Yolen, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, & Philippe Béha
Read Jack & the Beanstalk—and then make “Jack’s Magic Party Beans!” The story of Snow White includes Snow’s recipe for baked apples, and there’s a whole picnic basket of recipes to accompany Little Red Riding Hood!
Read Jack & the Beanstalk—and then make “Jack’s Magic Party Beans!” The story of Snow White includes Snow’s recipe for baked apples, and there’s a whole picnic basket of recipes to accompany Little Red Riding Hood!
