What the Farmer’s Reading in 2026 (Children’s Book Edition)
For the past couple of years, I’ve been sharing some of my favorite books pertaining to farming and the food system here on our blog. This year, I decided to mix things up a little bit by sharing a list of suggested children’s books. Unfortunately, so many of the farm related books that are out there for kids are very much in the style of Old MacDonald, barely scratching the surface of what modern agriculture looks like. I think it’s really important that everyone, children and adults, work to grow their understanding of where food comes from (since we all have to eat). Without further ado, here are some of the best books that my son and I have read together:
George the Farmer by Simone Kain: I was introduced to the George the Farmer series through a podcast that I listen to (shout out to Caite and Arlene of Barnard Language). These books were created by a farm mom who, like me, was frustrated by the way that agriculture was depicted in children’s books: quaint, outdated, and lacking representation of all of the many different kinds of people who work in agriculture. She has since created books, videos, and educational materials that are specific to different agricultural industries, for example, mangoes, cotton, and dairy. I haven’t been able to get my hands on as many of these books as I’d like to, as they ship from Australia, but the George the Farmer videos are available on YouTube. We’ve been incorporating George the Farmer resources into our homeschooling curriculum, and I myself have learned a lot about different industries that aren’t typical in our region.
Thank A Farmer by Maria Gianferrari: This book was suggested to me by the librarians at my childhood elementary school (where my mom still works today). I love the message of gratitude in this book, and I love that it depicts a really broad range of agricultural production methods, both small scale and large scale, across many different industries. It also shows that people of all kinds are involved in agriculture: people of different ages, people of different races, people in urban spaces, people in rural spaces. The illustrations by Monica Mikai are stunning as well!
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner: This book goes through a year of life in the garden, showing all of the work that the gardeners put into producing crops. More importantly, it delves into the importance of biodiversity and the role that insects and microbes play in creating healthy soils. I think that this book works well for both younger and older learners.
Construction Site: Farming Strong, All Year Long by Sherri Duskey Rinker: This book isn’t quite as educational as some of the others, but it’s one of our son’s all time favorites. Similar to the book above, Construction Site: Farming Strong, All Year Long goes through a year of farm work and reflects the various hats that farmers wear, from cropping to caring for livestock to making repairs to building new structures. Personally, my favorite part is when they all go to sleep at the end of the year (winter is in fact a time to catch up on rest for most farmers). This is a great read for younger kids.
Backyard Sunflower by Elizabeth King: This book was another Harold Martin School find. It follows one girl’s sunflower garden from planting to seed saving. It also touches on commercial sunflower production. What I love about this book is that it uses real photographs rather than childish illustrations, and the photography is incredible! It also has a 90s kid vibe that resonates with me.
Julia Rothman’s Farm Anatomy Activity Book for Curious Kids: This last one I found while I was shopping at Tractor Supply, and I just had to bring it home with me. As a homeschooling mom, I love a good workbook, although I think that this one is a better fit for upper elementary students than it is for my first grader. Nonetheless, the activities are fun and varied, the illustrations are cute, and there’s a lot of great content in this workbook! It’s oriented more towards homesteading than it is towards production agriculture, but it’s still a great way to get kids thinking about what it means to farm.
This list is by no means all encompassing, it’s just meant to get kids (and grown ups) started in their learning journey when it comes to agriculture. We are all about helping people to become informed consumers, and sharing resources like these is one of the best ways to do just that. We’d love to hear what some of your favorite food and farm related children’s books are! Please leave a comment below with your suggestions so that others can see them too.
