Food, Glorious Food

A food-themed storytime is perfect any time of the year.  Although I usually do a food-themed storytime as an alternate to a Thanksgiving-themed storytime, there are enough excellent food-related read alouds for a multitude of storytimes.  Here are a few delicious reads to spice up a food storytime.

I have a fondness for “children/people around the world” books: Children Just Like Me, What I Believe, This is the Way We Go to School, A Ride on Mother’s Back, etc.  I also have a fondness, unfortunately, for good bread, so Ann Morris’s Bread, Bread, Bread has been a favorite for many years. Through simple text and enticing photographs by Ken Heyman, we see the many ways people bake and enjoy bread all over the world. All kinds of bread  are represented: bread loaves, pizza, baguettes, bagels, chappatties (unleavened wheat bread in India), toast, and challah.  Yum…..very yummy.

If you’re not craving carbs after reading Bread, Bread, Bread, Gary Paulsen’s The Tortilla Factory might just set you over the edge.  The entire life cycle of a tortilla is encapsulated in this quietly mesmerizing book. The black earth sleeps in the winter, until spring arrives and brown hands work the black earth.  Yellow seeds are planted, green plants rustle in the wind, and golden corn is dried and ground into flour for the tortilla factory.  Hands squeeze and push the dough, bake the dough, and make it into tortillas. White teeth eat the tortillas, and the cycle begins anew.  The oil on linen illustrations (by Ruth Wright Paulsen) deserve lingering eyes; these are extraordinary images of agricultural and factory life.

Mischievous mice are usually crowd pleasers, and Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley is no exception.  This little mouse causes a huge mess: milk and jam spill, cornflakes scatter whne he jumps into the pile, and sugar falls.  After his tremendous feast, mouse takes a much-needed bath and scurries to bed, leaving a sticky surprise for the family in the morning.  Riley’s vibrant watercolor and collage illustrations pop on the page, adding character and charm to this irresistible toddler-friendly picture book.

Which yummy books did I miss? Tell me in the comments section!

Books Mentioned:

Morris, Ann.  Bread, Bread, Bread.  New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1989. 

Paulsen, Gary.  The Tortilla Factory.  San Diego: Harcourt Press, 1995. 

Riley, Linnea.  Mouse Mess.  New York: Blue Sky Press, 1997.