Read Books About Food, Then Serve the Foods to the Kids
Books are said to be nourishing for the soul. Make them nourishing to your nanny kids’ bodies as well by reading the following children’s books to them and serve them the foods discussed in the stories.
1. Stone Soup
First published in 1947, this picture book classic has remained one of Marcia Brown’s most popular and enduring books. This story, about three hungry soldiers who outwit the greedy inhabitants of a village into providing them with a feast, is based on an old French tale.
After reading the book make soup with the kids. Click here for a great chicken and dumplings recipe, or here for our broccoli and cheese soup, or click here for a beef and barley soup recipe, an apple butternut squash soup recipe, or click here for a great matzoh ball soup recipe.
2. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
In the town of Chewandswallow instead of snow, wind, or rain, they get a different kind of weather that falls from the sky three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only bad part about living in Chewandswallow is that the people don’t get their choice of what they’d like to fall from the sky: it may snow mashed potatoes, or rain juice or soup, or there might even be a storm of hamburgers that takes them by surprise. But no one is too worried about the weather, until it takes a turn for the worse — the portions of food get larger and larger and fall faster and faster, until everyone in the town fears for their lives. They all need to think of a plan, and they need one fast! With teamwork, smarts, and some extra-large bagels, Chewandswallow residents are able to save themselves from the torrential weather.
Make the kids spaghetti and meatballs after reading Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Here’s an easy meatball recipe.
3. I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (Charlie and Lola)
I love Lauren Child’s books and the main character siblings Charlie and Lola. In I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, Charlie tricks Lola into trying new foods by making up stories about each one. For example, Charlie tells Lola that the carrots he has served are orange twiglets from Jupiter. By the end of this story, Charlie and Lola are both having fun pretending to eat ocean nibbles (fish sticks), cloud fluff (mashed potatoes), orange twiglets (carrots), moonsquirters (tomatoes), and green drops (peas).
Mimic the story by encouraging the kids in your care to try something new and pretend it’s something else.
4. Sal and her mother are picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Meanwhile Sal’s mother is being followed by a small bear with a big appetite for berries. Will each mother go home with the right little one? Read the book with your nanny kids and find out.
Whip up one of our following blueberry recipes with the children. Click here to see our blueberry muffin recipe. My nanny kids love this blueberry crisp recipe and Blueberry Bread recipe.
5. The Celery Stalks at Midnight
The Celery Stalks at Night is hilarious. I love that these books are so entertaining and intelligent. Chester the cat is convinced all the world’s vegetables are in danger of being drained of their life juices and turned into zombies by the vampire bunny Bunnicula. Then Harold the dog and Howie the puppy are run around sticking toothpicks through hearts of lettuce and any other veggie in sight to kill the vampire.
After reading the book make the kids Ants on a Log. Click here for some recipes.
6. In this story Frances initially turns up her nose at all food other than bread and jam. However, when her mother decides to serve Frances only bread and jam, Frances quickly misses eating a variety of foods. Enjoy the descriptions of foods in this books while serving your charges some bread and jam.
Let the kids help spread their favorite jams on different types of bread and eat bread and jam while reading this book.
7. A mother who had a potato farm and two hardworking, loving sons. But one day one son ran away to the army of the east and the other son joined the army of the west — becoming commanders of opposing armies. After they lead their soldiers to war in their mother’s own garden, they learn to value family and food more than fighting.
Click here to see our super stuffed potato recipe, and click here for our sweet mashed potato recipe.
8. Teach upper and lowercase letters to preschoolers, while teaching them about fruits and vegetables from around the world. Even vegetable haters will find it hard to resist the vibrantly colored collage illustrations, which make each food look fascinating and appealing.
Serve a fruit salad and veggie platter after reading this book.
9. Serve the kids tortilla chips and salsa when reading this book to them. When the chickens get tired of the same old chicken feed the rooster has the chickens whip up a scrumptious snack of chips and salsa. When the rest of the barnyard gets a whiff of the spicy smells they have a FIESTA! But when the big day arrives, all their spicy southwestern supplies are gone. It seems that the farmers have caught on to the flavor craze as well.
10. On a sunny, summer day, a young boy and his father assemble the ingredients for a homemade pizza. From gathering fresh garden herbs to rolling out the dough for a crust to spreading on sauce and cheese, this picture book leads young chefs step-by-step through the process of making a favorite meal. Use the pizza recipe in the book after reading this book with children.
I like buying pre-made pizza dough at the grocery store to make homemade pizza with the kids. Click here to see how to make English muffin pizza. And click here to see how to make pizza bagels for the kids.
11. Who doesn’t love pancakes? This is the story of Jack, who wants a giant pancake for breakfast. His busy mother says he must gather the ingredients that are located in several different places. Jack has to spend a lot of time gathering them. Recreate this story while making pancakes with your nanny kids.
Buy any pancake mix in a grocery store and follow the directions for the kids. We also make sheet pancakes when There are a lot of lot of kids to serve — like after a sleep over party.
12. The Popcorn Book
Let the kids eat popcorn while you read The Popcorn Book to them. In this book one character makes popcorn, while his friend reads facts about popcorn from a book. Besides learning all about popcorn, what it’s made of, and how to cook it, we also learn the history and traditions of many cultures around the world pertaining to popcorn. Share a bowl of popcorn with the little ones in your care while reading “The Popcorn Book.”
13. Jamberry
In this popular book, a little boy befriends a dancing bear that is picking scores of berries in Berryland. The illustrations in this book are sweet, and silly, with surprises such as fruit tart flowers, butter-cookie lily pads, and bread vines to name a few. The book is visually stunning, as well as wonderfully rhythmic with a terrific use of alliteration. This story will hold a toddler’s attention enough to get to the ending where the the berry explorers expereince a jam jamboree with berries of all types. This dynamic little board book captivates all young children.
Stop by your local farmer’s market to try beautiful berries with your nanny kids. Try a blind taste test by having kids close their eyes (or blind fold them) and let them guess what type of berry you have put in their mouths by tasting it.
14. Creepy Carrots!
Have you ever enjoyed eating something so much, you could literally eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, everyday? Well, Jasper Rabbit did. He loved carrots. Until the day came he discovered, carrots didn’t love him, nor did they appreciate being eaten by him. This is truly a creepy story that my nanny kid loves.
Of course you can serve raw carrot sticks with ranch dressing to the kids. But my nanny kids absolutely love this amazing carrot soufflé I have shared on the blog.
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