60+ Kid Books About Food for Babies, Toddlers and Kids (Curated by Our Early Childhood Education Expert)
May 2022
Author:
Stefanie Kain, B.S. M.Ed
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
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Author:
Stefanie Kain, B.S. M.Ed
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Inside: Discover over 60 engaging kid books about food for your baby, toddler or older child. These books are also great for picky eaters, because exposing them to new foods in low-pressure settings can help them become more comfortable with the food.
“We gotta try new food, because it might taste good,” says Daniel Tiger.
Beyond telling a story, books can introduce ideas, words, new foods and helpful mantras to our kids. Cuddling up with a good book is a great way to build a relationship with your child, model language, and set the stage for reading and writing later on.
Why kid books about food are helpful
Kid books about food can help teach your child about foods they may not have yet tried, and get them more comfortable with the idea of trying new foods.
Interested in exposing your toddler to different kinds of vegetables? Grab a copy of Rah, Rah, Radishes! and chant along with the colorful photos of veggies.
Want your preschooler to try butternut squash for dinner? Try reading Sophie’s Squash, a cute, funny story about a child who cares for a squash like it’s her baby.
Looking for more tips to get kids to try specific kinds of food? Visit our picky eater food guide.
Best books for picky eaters
If your child is a picky eater, these books can also help.
Select a book that talks about a food you’d like your toddler to try. Exposing picky eaters to new foods in a low-pressure way, like reading a book, can help them become more comfortable with the food.
Our favorite books about food for kids, toddlers and babies
Food-themed books for kids are a great way to expose them to many different kinds of foods! Here are a few of our favorite books for kids about food.
Best books about food for babies
Choose sturdy board or fabric books with simple, large pictures. Books with one word, short phrases, or simple sentences on each page are the best books for babies. It is important for babies to hear language but their attention span is short.
Consider allowing your baby to hold a toy as you read, asking, “What’s that?” as you point to a picture of a tomato or apple, and letting them get up when they want.
For toddlers, the best books about food have a little more action and detail in the pictures.
Most toddlers enjoy books with songs, poems, rhymes, but they are also interested in simple stories with a problem and solution or cause and effect.
Snuggle with your toddler or invite them to sit next to you if they prefer and enjoy a story about a mouse on a quest to stop a hungry bear from eating his strawberry!
Their attention span is getting longer but they still may want to play with a toy as you read or get up before the book is done.
Older children will enjoy books about food that have basic storylines, interesting pictures, and are fun to read aloud in one sitting. Books with songs, poems, and rhymes are still good options.
As children get older, they can understand longer, more complicated stories and often enjoy food books that are connected to their own experiences.
Children love hearing the same books read again and again (which can be a great food exposure for picky eaters!), so choose books both you and your children enjoy! Dragons who love tacos? Yes please!
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Stefanie Kain is a former preschool and kindergarten teacher with 16 years of classroom experience. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. Stefanie has also taught undergraduates in the field of Early Childhood Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an active member of the National Association of the Education of Young Children and has spoken at local and national conferences on the importance of developmentally appropriate, play-based, meaningful learning opportunities for children in preschool and kindergarten. Stefanie lives near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, is a passionate explorer of the outdoors, and loves spending time with her husband and two children.
Inside: Discover over 60 engaging kid books about food for your baby, toddler or older child. These books are also great for picky eaters, because exposing them to new foods in low-pressure settings can help them become more comfortable with the food.
“We gotta try new food, because it might taste good,” says Daniel Tiger.
Beyond telling a story, books can introduce ideas, words, new foods and helpful mantras to our kids. Cuddling up with a good book is a great way to build a relationship with your child, model language, and set the stage for reading and writing later on.
Why kid books about food are helpful
Kid books about food can help teach your child about foods they may not have yet tried, and get them more comfortable with the idea of trying new foods.
Interested in exposing your toddler to different kinds of vegetables? Grab a copy of Rah, Rah, Radishes! and chant along with the colorful photos of veggies.
Want your preschooler to try butternut squash for dinner? Try reading Sophie’s Squash, a cute, funny story about a child who cares for a squash like it’s her baby.
Looking for more tips to get kids to try specific kinds of food? Visit our picky eater food guide.
Best books for picky eaters
If your child is a picky eater, these books can also help.
Select a book that talks about a food you’d like your toddler to try. Exposing picky eaters to new foods in a low-pressure way, like reading a book, can help them become more comfortable with the food.
Our favorite books about food for kids, toddlers and babies
Food-themed books for kids are a great way to expose them to many different kinds of foods! Here are a few of our favorite books for kids about food.
Best books about food for babies
Choose sturdy board or fabric books with simple, large pictures. Books with one word, short phrases, or simple sentences on each page are the best books for babies. It is important for babies to hear language but their attention span is short.
Consider allowing your baby to hold a toy as you read, asking, “What’s that?” as you point to a picture of a tomato or apple, and letting them get up when they want.
Songs and poems are a plus!
Moo! Moo! And Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!
Baby, Let’s Eat!
Yum Yum Baby: First Words for Little Foodies
My First 100 Food we Eat
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Pandas Love Pickles
Best food books for toddlers
For toddlers, the best books about food have a little more action and detail in the pictures.
Most toddlers enjoy books with songs, poems, rhymes, but they are also interested in simple stories with a problem and solution or cause and effect.
Snuggle with your toddler or invite them to sit next to you if they prefer and enjoy a story about a mouse on a quest to stop a hungry bear from eating his strawberry!
Their attention span is getting longer but they still may want to play with a toy as you read or get up before the book is done.
Daniel Tries a New Food
Eating the Alphabet
Soup Day
Bear Wants More
Rah, Rah, Radishes!
Go, Go, Grapes!
Bee Bim Bop
Vegetables in Underwear
Vegetables in Halloween Costumes
Vegetables in Holiday Underwear
Fruits in Suits
Eat Your Colors
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
Best books about food for big kids
Older children will enjoy books about food that have basic storylines, interesting pictures, and are fun to read aloud in one sitting. Books with songs, poems, and rhymes are still good options.
As children get older, they can understand longer, more complicated stories and often enjoy food books that are connected to their own experiences.
Children love hearing the same books read again and again (which can be a great food exposure for picky eaters!), so choose books both you and your children enjoy! Dragons who love tacos? Yes please!
Magic Ramen
Every Night is Pizza Night
Dragons Love Tacos
Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel
From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate
Blueberries for Sal
The Boy Who Loved Broccoli
Too Many Mangos
Bread and Jam for Frances
Jalapeno Bagels
The Vegetables We Eat
Veggies with Wedgies
Comiendo el Arcoíris – Eating the Rainbow
The Great Garden Escape
Sophie’s Squash
Stone Soup
Stone Soup
Stone Soup
The Bagel King
Where does Broccoli Come from?
Where do Bananas Come From?
Let’s Go Nuts!: Seeds We Eat
Oliver’s Fruit Salad
Oliver’s Vegetables
Squash Boom Beet An Alphabet for Healthy, Adventurous Eaters
Goodnight, Veggies
How Are You Peeling?
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas
Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli
Anansi and the Talking Melon
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months
Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup
The Cool Bean
The Good Egg
The Great Eggscape
Chicks and Salsa
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato
We are Fungi
Supertato
The Enormous Potato
Pumpkin Soup
Community Soup
Little Sweet Potato
The Gigantic Sweet Potato
Zora’s Zucchini
Little Chef
Fruit Bowl
One Bean
Cora Cooks Pancit