Children's books and activities
Cooking and Food
Do you know any budding gourmet chefs or kids who are curious about food traditions from around the world? We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about cooking and food.
Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as cooking and food. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Print List
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
By: Kat Zhang
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Amy loves to make bao with her family. But it takes skill to make the bao taste and look...
Anywhere Farm
By: Phyllis Root
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
"You can grow your own farm anywhere" is the empowering message of this inclusive picture book....
Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic
By: Ginnie Lo
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Bee-Bim Bop!
By: Linda Sue Park
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis
By: Robbin Gourley
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Edna Lewis grew up on a Virginia farm where she developed a deep appreciation for the rhythm of...
Chicken Sunday
By: Patricia Polacco
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
By: Judi Barrett
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Residents of Chewandswallow were accustomed to their predictable weather which kept them in...
Common Threads: Adam's Day at the Market
By: Huda Essa
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Adam and his family spend an exciting day at the colorful and bustling Eastern Market. But when...
Cook-A-Doodle-Do!
By: Janet Stevens
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Cooking Art: Easy Edible Art for Young Children
By: Mary Ann Kohl, Jean Potter
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Art is meant to be enjoyed, and sometimes even eaten! Create, then consume, the attractive,...
Dim Sum for Everyone
By: Grace Lin
Age Level: 3-6 years old
A Chinese family goes out for dim sum ("little dishes"), choosing their favorites off...
Easy as Pie
By: Cari Best
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Green Eggs and Ham
By: Dr. Seuss
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Green Is a Chile Pepper
By: Roseanne Thong
Age Level: 3-6 years old
How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? The Story of Food
By: Lucia Gaggiotti
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Pie Is for Sharing
By: Stephanie Parsley Ledyard
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
A picnic, a beach, a pie cut into pieces and shared with good friends. Pie is for sharing. It...
Rainbow Stew
By: Cathryn Fallwell
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Strega Nona's Harvest
By: Tomie DePaola
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
This book is a great lesson in sharing one’s blessings with others. Strega Nona tries to show...
Take Me to Your BBQ
By: Kathy Duval
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Thank You, Omu!
By: Oge Mora
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Omu is an elderly woman who makes a fantastic pot of thick red stew. The scent from her stew...
The Food Parade: Healthy Eating with Nutritious Food Groups
By: Elicia Castaldi
Age Level: 3-6 years old
The Honeybee Man
By: Lela Nargi
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Tyler Makes a Birthday Cake
By: Tyler Florence
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Watercress
By: Andrea Wang
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
A child is embarrassed when parents stop the car to harvest wild watercress. Illustrations in...
We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past
By: Jacqueline Woodson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Teeka has a sharp eye as she describes each member of the family that joins the picnic in the...
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?
By: George Shannon
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Print List
Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child
By: Jessie Hartland
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Eating Fractions
By: Bruce MacMillan
Age Level: 6-9 years old
How do two children share one banana? Cut it in half, of course! Healthy foods are shared by...
Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup!
By: Emeril Lagasse
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The celebrity chef shares his thrill in making kitchen creations in this lighthearted but...
Fannie in the Kitchen
By: Deborah Hopkinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Animated illustrations combine with lively text to reveal the story behind the woman whose name...
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
By: Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Martin shares the remarkable life story of former professional basketball player Will Allen,...
Food Trucks!
By: Mark Todd
Age Level: 6-9 years old
What’s got “shoots and roots and dried fruits, cucumbers, carrots, and croutons to boot”? Why it...
Fresh Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market
By: Michelle Schaub
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As the weather warms farmers’ markets begin to open. Celebrate the start of the season through...
Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Dr. Seuss
By: Georgeanne Brennan
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
By: Tony Hillery
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Discover the inspiring true story of how one man made a big difference in a neighborhood. Tony...
Independence Cake
By: Deborah Hopkinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Since little is known about the real Amelia Simmons, the author invites readers to imagine what...
Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen
By: Debbi Michiko Florence
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Jasmine is only 8 years old but wants to do what the boys do. It’s her family Japanese tradition...
Kids Cooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual
By: The authors of Klutz
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food and Fun Around the World
By: Deanna Cook
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Take a culinary tour around the world, with foods and activities from a variety of countries and...
Little Kitchen: 40 Delicious and Simple Things That Children Can Really Make
By: Sabrina Parrini
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Tasty meals begin with healthy, balanced recipes. Clear instructions for broadly appealing meals...
Maddi's Fridge
By: Lois Brandt
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
This story addresses issues of poverty with honesty and sensitivity while instilling important...
Nacho's Nachos: The Story Behind the World's Favorite Snack
By: Sandra Nickel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Meet Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya and learn the true story of how he invented the world's most beloved...
Our Little Kitchen
By: Jillian Tamaki
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
A crew of resourceful neighbors comes together to prepare a meal for their community. With a...
Our School Garden!
By: Rick Swann
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The garden at Michael’s new school is full of fresh sensations. Thirteen poems describe holding...
Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott
By: Dee Romito
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The life story of Georgia Gilmore, a woman whose pies and delicious homemade cooking helped...
Pinch and Dash Make Soup
By: Michael Daley
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Stone Soup
By: Marcia Brown
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Based on an old French folktate, the story is about how three hungry soldiers outsmart the...
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
By: Samantha Vamos
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Start with a farm maiden and a pot, invite some friends to help her, and before you know it, you...
The Hole Story of the Doughnut
By: Pat Miller
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A seafaring cook named Hanson Crockett Gregory is credited with inventing the sweet fried treats...
The Kids Can Press Jumbo Cookbook
By: Judi Gilles, Jennifer Glossap
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The Ugly Vegetables
By: Grace Lin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
In a neighborhood of flower gardens, a Chinese-American girl and her mother plant what the child...
The Vegetables We Eat
By: Gail Gibbons
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Some are perennials, others are annuals, but one thing is for sure: vegetables are grown to be...
To Market, to Market
By: Nikki McClure
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A child and his mother go to a farmers' market to get fresh produce and goods. On...
Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City
By: Deborah Hodge
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Growing fruits and vegetables doesn't take a lot of space; they can even grow in crowded...
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Print List
Cool World Cooking: Fun and Tasty Recipes for Kids!
By: Lisa Wagner
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Fanny in France: Travel Adventures of a Chef's Daughter, with Recipes
By: Alice Waters
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Fanny is a girl who knows a lot about food and cooking since she’s grown up in and around the...
National Geographic Cookbook: A Year-Round Fun Food Adventure
By: Barton Seaver
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Foodies and cooking aficionados as well as those only marginally interested in food are sure to...
Phineas L. MacGuire Gets Cooking
By: Frances O’Roark Dowell
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Phineas MacGuire is not thrilled when his mom assigns him the new chore of cooking dinner for...
Rutabaga the Adventure Chef
By: Eric Colossal
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Rutabaga loves traveling through the fantastic forests, seeking out new and exotic ingredients...
The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods
By: Claire Eamer
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Hands-on Activities
Build on what you're learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.
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Chef's Hat
Ikat Bag -
Farmers Market Math
PBS Parents -
Homemade Ice Cream in a Baggie
2 Little Hooligans -
Is There Kelp in Your Cupboard?
Monterrey Bay Aquarium -
Map Your Food
Education.com -
Solar Oven
Science Buddies -
Solar Oven S’mores
NASA Climate Kids
Summer Writing
Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.
Great Websites for Kids
Dive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites.
Great Podcasts for Kids
Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids. These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher — or from Listen Notes, a podcast search engine.
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But Why: How Do We Taste Food?
Vermont Public Radio -
Edible Insects Are on the Menu!
Wow in the World (NPR)
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Mystery Recipe
America's Test Kitchen Kids
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Potatoes, Tomatoes, Ice Cream Cornucopias and Chicken Pie
The Past and the Curious
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Sandwiches: A Hillel By Any Other Name
Brains On: Forever Ago
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The Science of Slower Melting Ice Cream
Wow in the World (NPR)
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Totally Spiced Out!
Wow in the World (NPR)
Educational Apps
Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.
More Themed Resources
Growing Readers Tip Sheets
Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.
