Books

To borrow one of these for your classroom for a two week period click here or call 877-2436 and ask for the Ag Literacy Coordinator!
For a listing of even more books that may be available at your local library or bookstore download Agriculture Books for Children (pdf file).

Bread Is for Eating
By David and Phillis Gershator, illustrated by Emma Shaw-Smith – All around the world, people eat bread – from tortillas and baguettes to pitas, challah, and sliced white. Here is a book that celebrates bread – and everyone who works so hard to make it. The rhythmic, bilingual text introduces readers to Spanish words through song while rich vibrant paintings, reminiscent of Guatemalan folk art, depict a variety of peoples and breads. Ages 3-6

Cow
By Jules Older, illustrated by Lyn Severance - Everything you want to know about these popular bovines in funny but factual prose and humorous illustrations. A light-hearted, informative look at cows: different breeds, what they eat, how they make milk, and an assortment of other facts. Ages 2-7

Egg to Chick
By Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Barbara Wolff – How does an egg become a chicken?  Why can’t you hatch a chick from your breakfast egg? Why does a mother hen sit on her eggs?   Why does a mother hen sit on her eggs?   From tiny egg cell to wet, wobbly baby bird, it takes 21 days for a chick to hatch. Age 8-11

Fun Facts about Farm Animals
By Carol Benanti & Ray H. Miller, illustrated by Andrew Crabtree - Will show you a side of everyday farm animals you have never seen.   Which farm animal has four stomachs?  How are goats used to prevent forest fires?  What kind of farm fowl could spot you seven miles away? Find the answers to these fascinating questions, and much, much more inside.

Fun Facts about Farm Crops
By Carol Benanti & Ray H. Miller, illustrated by Andrew Crabtree - See a side of farm crops you’ve never seen.  What close relative of the carrot is used to flavor cookies and candy?   On which vegetable could you tee up a golf ball?  What vegetable is used to make photographic film?  Find the answers to these fascinating questions, and much, much more inside.

Fun Facts about Farm Equipment
By Ray H. Miller, illustrated by Andrew Crabtree - See a side of farm equipment you have never seen.  What kind of machine has the “wingspan” of a Learjet?  Which tractor is powerful enough to pull 40 plows?  What machine is so tall it can drive over a sports car without scratching it? Find the answers to these fascinating questions, and much, much more inside.

Fun Facts about Farm History
By Ray H. Miller, illustrated by Andrew Crabtree - Will show you a side of farm history you’ve never seen.  Why may farmers one day need a course in swimming?  What did a farm goose and a watchdog have in common in the 1800’s?  Which crawling critter did farmers turn to for a weather prediction? Find the answers to these fascinating questions, and much, much more inside.

Fun with Nutrition
University of Illinois Extension - a pdf file with nutritional coloring pages regarding a number of different foods and general nutrition information. This is available at web.aces.uiuc.edu/wellnessways/coloringbook/index.html.

Jack’s Garden
By Henry Cole – Come to the garden that Jack planted.  You’ll see seeds and seedlings, buds and leaves, birds and bugs and butterflies.  And best of all, you’ll watch the garden bloom. Age 3-8

“Hi, Pizza Man!”
By Virginia Walter, pictures by Ponder Goember - "Vivian and her mother are waiting for the Pizza Man, but Vivian's impatience leads to a game. Vivian will say, 'Hi, Pizza Man,' when he arrives. But what if there's a Pizza Woman on the other side of the door? Or a Pizza Kitty or a Pizza Duck or even a Pizza Dino? What will Vivian say then? Ages 3-7

How Do Apples Grow?
By Betsy Maestro, illustrated by Giulio Maestro - Have you ever eaten part of a flower?  You have if you’ve eaten an apple.  Apples begin as flowers.  Every spring, apple trees are covered with pretty pink and white blossoms.  With the help of sunlight, water, air, and hungry bees, each blossom will turn into a delicious fruit by fall.  Learn all about pollination and fertilization, and discover how an apple grows from bud to flower to fruit. Ages 5-9

How Do Bees Make Honey?
By Anna Claybourne, illustrated by Sophie Allington and Annabel Spenceley - This book provides excellent illustrations of worker, drones and queen honeybees.

Leah’s Pony
By Elizabeth Friedrich, illustrated by Michael Garland - Set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, this is the story of family love and the kindness of neighbors. Faced with the auction of their farm and equipment due to the drought, Young Leah decides to help her family by placing the first bid on her father's tractor, using the money she had received from the sale of her beloved pony. Age 6-10

Start-to-Finish Books – This series gives primary graders just the right amount of information in a format they can handle.

From Cow to Shoe
From Grain to Bread
From Sheep to Scarf

T.C. Cobb and the Cornstalk Riddles
By Susan M. Pankey, illustrated by Libby Mortensen – It’s the first day of summer vacation and the last thing T.C. Cobb is thinking about is reading a book. Summer vacation can be full of adventures, though, and today is no exception. Much to his surprise, T.C. finds a very special book that’s been hidden in the attic for years, and it’s full of mysterious riddles. Some are easy and some are hard, so T.C. recruits his friends to help him solve them. Together they have a day full of fun. Join T.C. and his friends to see if you can solve the riddles in this book.

Tractors
by Carolyn Young – The big, bright machines in this series will appeal to very young children, stimulating interest in the world beyond the home. Realistic images make the machines easy to identify, with simple text giving a very basic idea of what each machine does. Fascinating visual details encourages the very young to recognize and describe different shapes. Age 3-8

Welcome To Our Farm
By the National Pork Producers Council – You are given a tour of a family hog farm in Iowa. Educator materials are included in the back of the book.

Where Food Comes From – This book describes all the things that happen to food before it reaches your table.  It shows how and where food is grown, how it is canned, frozen or dried, and how it is packaged for sale in shops.  You can find out how the fizz gets into lemonade, how a crisp starts life, what turns milk to yogurt and much more.