youngCanLit for Foodies: Book List

I know that kids love cookbooks and recipe books.  As soon as one cookbook is returned to the school library, perhaps with a chocolate or butter stain, there's a student waiting to take it out. Let's face it: most of us enjoy food.  So, add the pleasure of consumption with experimentation (cooking is a lot like mixing and measuring in a science lab), bonding with your cooking mentor, and reading a book, and you have a terrific sensory experience.

The following books have food or cooking and baking as a integral part of their stories, often providing recipes for readers to try, and teaching about the chemistry and mechanics of growing, preparing and consuming food.  Enjoy this list of youngCanLit for Foodies! 

PICTURE BOOKS

Boy Soup
by Loris Lesynski
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2008

Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog
by Tim Beiser
Illustrated by Rachel Berman
Tundra
24 pp.
Ages 2-6
2009

Community Soup
by Alma Fullerton
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2013
Recipe included

The Fragrant Garden
by Day's Lee
Illustrated by Josée Bellemare
Napoleon Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
2005

The French Fry King
by Rogé
Tundra
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2012
Recipes included

The King's Taster
by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
HarperCollins
32 pp.
Ages 4-9
2009

Mile High Apple Pie
by Laura Langston
Illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner
The Bodley Head/Random House Canada
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2004
Recipe included

Miss Wondergem's Dreadfully Dreadful Pie
by Valerie Sherrard
Illustrated by Wendy J. Whittingham
Tuckamore Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2011

Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity
by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Esperança Melo

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

2013

Mr. Emerson's Cook
by Judith Byron Schachner
Penguin
32 pp.
Ages 7-9
2001

My Mom Loves Me More Than Sushi
by Filomena Gomes
Illustrated by Ashley Spires
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-7
2006

Poetry and Potatoes: A Tale of Friendship, Travels and Recipes
by Troon Harrison
Illustrated by Sue Hellard
Chrysalis Children's Books
32 pp.
2003

Roses Sing on New Snow: A Delicious Tale
by Paul Yee
Illustrated by Harvey Chan
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
1991

Toads on Toast
by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Colin Jack
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2012

Treasure for Lunch
by Shenaaz Nanji
Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4 - 8
2000

Wild Berries
by Julie Flett
Translated by Earl N. Cook
(English and Cree)
Simply Read Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2013

Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year
by Nan Forler
Art by Peter Etril Snyder
Tundra
40 pp.
Ages 8-11
2011
Recipes included





FICTION

The Case of the Missing Deed
by Ellen Schwartz
Tundra Books
189 pp.
Ages 8-12
2011

Everything on a Waffle
by Polly Horvath
Groundwood Books
179 pp.
Ages 8-13
2001
Recipes included

Jolted: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival
by Arthur Slade
HarperCollins
224 pp.
Ages 11-14
2008

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders
by Kevin Sylvester
Key Porter
300 pp.
Ages 10-14
2010

Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction
by Kevin Sylvester
Simon & Schuster Canada/Harper Collins Canada
317 pp.
Ages 11-14
2010

Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse

by Kevin Sylvester

Simon & Schuster Books for Young People

291 pp.

Ages 8-14

2012

Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure

by Kevin Sylvester

Simon & Schuster

352 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

One Year in Coal Harbour
by Polly Horvath
Groundwood
216 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
208 pp.
Ages 9+
2010 
Recipe included

Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
234 pp.
Ages 9+
2012
Recipe included

Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
240 pp.
Ages 9+
2013
Recipe included

YOUNG ADULT

Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery
by Susan Juby
HarperCollins
339 pp.
Ages 13-15
2008

More Than Bread
by Nora Rock
Smith, Bonappétit & Son
205 pp.
Ages 12+
2008

The Opposite of Geek
by Ria Voros
Scholastic Canada
224 pp.
Ages 12+
2013
Recipe included

Recipe for Disaster
by Maureen Fergus
Kids Can Press
256 pp.
Ages 11-14
2009

Way to Go
by Tom Ryan
Orca Book Publishers
224 pp.
Ages 12+
2012

Whatever
by Ann Walsh
Ronsdale Press
200 pp.
Ages 12+
September 2013
Recipes included

Wicked Sweet

by Mar'ce Merrell

Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan imprint)

330 pp.

Ages 14-18

2012

Windfall
by Sara Cassidy
Orca Book Publishers
117 pp.
Ages 10-13
2011










NON-FICTION

The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook
by Kate Macdonald
Illustrated by Barbara Di Lella
Oxford
48 pp.
Ages 8-14
1985, 2003
Recipes included

Burp!: The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Eating
by Diane Swanson
Illustrated by Rose Cowles
Kids Can Press
40 pp.
Ages 10-14
2001

Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn’t Know About Food
by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod
Illustrated by Travis King
Scholastic Canada
112 pp.
Ages 9-12
2008

Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook
Retold by Jane Yolen
Recipes by Heidi E.Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Philippe Béha
Tradewind Books
197 pp.
Ages 5-10
2006
Recipes included

Food Fight: A Graphic Guide Adventure
by Liam O’Donnell
Illustrated by Mike Deas
Orca Book Publishers
64 pp.
Ages 11-15
2010

The Good Garden: How One Family Went From Hunger to Having Enough
by Katie Smith Milway
Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
2010

How Monkeys Make Chocolate: Foods and Medicines from the Rainforests
by Adrian Forsyth
Owlkids Books
48 pp.
Ages 9-13
1995

Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook
Retold by Jane Yolen
Recipes by Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin
Tradewind Books
199 pp.
Ages 7-10
2013
Recipes included

The Kids Can Press Jumbo Cookbook
by Judi Gillies and Jennifer Glossop
Illustrated by Louise Phillips
Kids Can Press
256 pp.
Ages 9-13
2000
Recipes included

Native North American Food and Recipes
by Kathryn Smithyman and Bobbie Kalman
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 9-11
2006
Recipes included

Pioneer Recipes
by Bobbie Kalman and Lynda Hale
Illustrated by Barbara Bedell
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 8-11
2000
Recipes included

Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City
by Hadley Dyer
Annick Press
83 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

Up We Grow! A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm
by Deborah Hodge
Photographs by Brian Harris
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-8
2010

Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City
by Deborah Hodge
Photographed by Brian Harris
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-8
2011

Who Wants Pizza? The Kids’ Guide to the History, Science & Culture of Food
by Jan Thornhill
Maple Tree Press
64 pp.
Ages 9-13
2010

The Wilderness Cookbook: A Guide to Good Food on the Trail
by Bonnie McTaggart and Jill Bryant
Illustrated by Chum McLeod
Second Story Press
168 pp.
Ages 8+
1999
Recipes included

The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods
by Claire Eamer
Illustrated by Sa Boothroyd
Annick Press
121 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

Bon appétit!