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Agriculture + Lifestyle

A Few Ag Books We Love


Posted on February 7, 2019 12:00 AM


By Lauren Goble, Ag in the Classroom Coordinator

 

Just as love is all around, so it agriculture! The best way to show your love is to give the gift of reading. As an essential tool for children's success, reading helps the developing mind grow by learning new things. Help expand your children and student's imagination while discovering how agriculture is such a significant part of our everyday lives. There's no better way to express love and care than by reading out loud and reading together at home.  

 

Little Red Hen is a time-tested cautionary tale about how we reap what we sow. When the hen asks a cat, dog, and mouse for help planting some wheat, she gets no takers: "‘Not I!’ said the cat. ‘Not I!’ said the dog. ‘Not I!’ said the mouse." They won’t water, cut, or grind the wheat . . . or help bake a cake with it, either. So guess who eats the cake by herself in the end?

PB&J Hooray tells the story of how peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are made. This book describes how peanuts become peanut butter, grapes are made into jelly, and wheat turns into bread. The fun, rhythmic language is perfect for Pre K- Grade 2 students.

 

There is so much to look at and learn about on a farm - animals, tractors, crops, and barns. And children feeding animals for morning chores! With lyrical writing and beautiful illustrations that capture the rhythms of the changing seasons, Elisha Cooper brings the farm to life.

 

This soft cover book filled with colorful illustrations contains an adorable rhyming bedtime story that follows a little boy’s imagination as he says goodnight to his favorite things around the farm. Perfect for kids age 2-5!

 

Bear and Hare are involved in a gardening project. Hare, the book's main character, tricks his lazy colleagues into sharing crops which only benefit the hard work of the hare. During the process children learn which foods grow above the ground and which grow below the ground, hence the title - tops and bottoms.

 

Children three and older will love this adorable board book, the perfect companion to Otis and Otis and the Tornado. In this new story, the beloved tractor loves to play with his friends - the calf, the cows, the horses, and of course, the ducks. Together, they jump, they play, they chase, and they march. And they always have fun - young readers will, too!

 

Sibley the horse lives on Stony Meadow Farm and is a hard worker the whole year round. Then Tractor Mac arrives at the farm, and suddenly, everything that Sibley used to do, Tractor Mac does, too. Sibley wonders if there is any room left for him - but when Farmer Bill and Tractor Mac get stuck in a soggy field, Sibley is the one who comes to their rescue, and Sibley and Tractor Mac learn that there's plenty for both of them to do at the farm.

 

Meet Charlie. He's a ranch dog. Breakfast is his life, especially when bacon is involved. Charlie has dangly ears, floppy skin, and big fat paws. And he loves living in the country. That's because he works like a dog...fixing fences, gardening, and helping his family out on the range.

 

Uh-oh. Mrs. Wishy-Washy is at it again. Rubbing and scrubbing all the animals on the farm. But this time they aren't standing for it. Duck, Cow, and Pig are leaving mean old Mrs. Wishy-Washy for good!

 

The best part of a young child's day is often opening a lunchbox and diving in. But how did all that delicious food get there? Who made the bread for the sandwich? What about the cheese inside? Who plucked the fruit? And where did the chocolate in that cookie get its start? From planting wheat to mixing flour into dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods.

 

Did you know that the cotton for your jeans was picked from a bush? How did the colorful wool in your sweater get from a sheep’s back to a ball of yarn? Where did your soccer uniform, your rain boots, and your fleece jacket come from? And what does recycling plastic bottles have to do with anything? Visit farms, forests, and factories all over the world to find out how everything you wear has a story behind it.

 

Margaret Wise Brown's simple, rhythmic text about the cycle of a day on a farm, where a family of animals peacefully plays and sleeps, has charmed generations of children. This board book edition features sturdy pages and is just the right size for toddlers.

 

Marilyn Moore-Buice
These look like awesome books - must get some for my grandchildren