Food books for toddlers are a great way for young kids to learn about new foods. Whether this is through fun stories, how foods are grown or cookery books to inspire making them.

I have come up with 11 of my favourite food books for toddlers that I have tried and tested on my own kids as well as preschoolers when I have done nutrition and cookery sessions. They are great for all kids but especially those that may struggle with new foods and this certainly helps with that!

Why are food books for preschoolers so important?

You may or may not have heard me talk about the importance of exposure for kids to learn about new foods. If you have a fussy eater then exposing your child to foods in lots of different ways can help them to feel more comfortable about new foods. 

It can help to learn about where they come from, what they look like, how they may taste or feel without the overwhelming smell or look of foods for some children. 

Toddler food books will start to build familiarity and comfort in knowing more about foods before any further interaction takes place. It may also build curiosity, which will encourage kids to want to grow or then shop for these foods.

Exposure to new foods

Books create exposure to new foods in a visual way. There are six major steps to eating and this can also be broken down further to 32 steps. If your child has trouble tolerating new foods even by looking at them then you may want to consider books as a form of exposure before bringing the foods into the house. 

Books allow a visual step before even getting anywhere near eating a food. Once they are comfortable with certain foods then you can start to introduce the real food and see if they can tolerate it. 

If you would like to more about the steps to eating then there is blog you may like to check out called 6 steps to eating nutritious healthy meals and ways to make it fun.

How to choose food books for toddlers

Be guided by your child’s interests for example if they expressed some interest about growing vegetables then a book about this may engage them. Or if they are a fussy eater then books about trying new foods could help.

Tips for reading food books for toddlers

• Like reading any book, find a comfortable place to sit or lie together with no distractions so ideally in a quiet room. 
• Take time and build it into a routine of regular reading, 5 – 10 mins a day
• Toddlers and all children like repetition and familarily, so reading the same book again on different occasions will build more familiarity with foods.
• Interact and discuss the foods by asking questions like, where can you find the xyz?, what do you think that food feels like? Where does that grow? 

What are the best toddler books about food?

1. Eating the alphabet

By Lois Ehlert. It contains a variety of fruits and vegetables using the alphabet A to Z. This is a great way to introduce your child to new fruits and vegetables in a visual form without the potential overwhelm of the smell or other characteristics. They will also learn to remember the names from sight. There are also some facts about each of them at the back of the book.

• Suitable for pre-school age

2. The tiger who came to tea

By Juidth Kerr. This fiction story introduces some foods via a tiger unexpectedly turning up for tea and eating everything in the kitchen. From a learning perspective children can learn where food is stored in the kitchen as the tiger goes through all the storage to find foods & drinks. A warm and fun read. 

• Suitable for 2 – 4 year olds

3. The very hungry caterpillar

By Eric Carle. This is one of my favourite food books for toddlers. It tells the story through a journey of a little egg to a beautiful butterfly and all the foods it eats in its journey. Beautifully illustrated and a fun way to explore new foods. 

• Suitable for 1 – 3 year olds

4. My first book of smells and colours

By Orianne Lallemand. This scratch and sniff book has 7 fruit scents to recognise. Children can try and guess the fruit before lifting the flap and sniffing the scent. I have used this with pre-schoolers and they love this game helping to recognise different fruits.

• Suitable for 3 – 6 year olds

Vegetable books for toddlers

Vegetables are often the trickiest for fussy eaters to eat, so here are some books which could help. Also if you want to check out more ways to expose your child to vegetables then i have an extensive list on 19 creative ways to get them to love them.

5. I will not ever never eat a tomato

By Lauren child. This book is about fussy eating and how foods have been identified using different names to make them sound more fun to eat. For example tomatoes are called moon squirters and cauliflower cloud fluff! 

• Suitable for 3 – 5 year olds

6. Peas. Its not easy being peasy

By Andy Cullen and Simon Rickerty. This lovely book is all about the journey of peas from farm to fork. A great book that simply illustrates and explains how peas are grown and reach the table. 

• Suitable for 3 – 5 year olds

7. Oliver’s vegetables

By Vivian French. A book about fussy eating. In which this little boy called Oliver plays a game with his grandpa. From learning to grow vegetables he learns to eat vegetables other than chips. 

• Suitable for children 6 -11 years

8. The carrot that was too big for his bed

By Willsow. A story about a carrot who loves his warm bed but wants to explore the outside world. Discover who helps him to pull up his roots and explore the world. This multipurpose book also contains carrot seeds so you can plant carrots as well as enjoy reading this book.

cook books for toddlers and young children

9. Mummy and me cook book

By Annabel Karmel. This cook book is great for little ones from the age of 5 upwards to make some fun and quick recipes with some adult help. It teaches lots of different cookery skills too.

• Suitable for 5 – 8 year olds

10. Fun food

By Mark Northeast. This book has some great ideas for making food more appealing to young children. Some of the recipes may be too fiddly for kids to do but the ideas could help children to eat/try new foods. 

11. I can cook

By Sally Brown and Kate Morris. This is a great book for healthy and fun recipes that young children can help make. It has over 50 recipes with simple step by step instructions along with some tips.

• Suitable for 3 – 7 year olds

Conclusion

What are your favourite food books for kids? Please comment below or message me as I would love to update and add these to the blog. 

If you have found these books useful to get your child to try new foods but you are struggling with getting them to eat more variety or maybe you are worried about their nutrition? Then maybe you would like to have a free chat and see if I can help. Click on the button below to get started.