30 Community Gardening and Farming Books for Pre-K to Grade 2

These books on community gardening and farming focus on the social, economic, and practical aspects. I have arranged them by suggested grade level.

PreKindergarten and Kindergarten

1. Ayres, Katherine. (2008). Up, Down and Around. Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (290L)
2. Falwell, Cathryn. (2019). Rainbow Stew. New York: Lee & Low Books. (540L)
3. Hooks, Gwendolyn. (2018). The Garden: Confetti Kids. Illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez. New York: Lee & Low Books. (level I/16)
4. Lottridge,Celia Barker. (2012).  One Watermelon Seed. Illustrated by Karen Patkau. Tornoto, ON: Fitzhenry and Whiteside. (Counting book)
5. McQuinn, Anna. (2017). Lola Plants a Garden. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. (470L)
6. Mullen, Diance C. (2020). One Little Lot: The 1-2-3s of an Urban Garden. Illustrated by Oriol Vidal. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. (Counting Book)
7. Murray, Diana. (2020). Goodnight Vegies. Illustrated by Zachariah OHora. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers. (460L)
8. Rockwell, Lizzy. (2015). Plants Feed Me. New York: Holiday House.
9. Root, Phyllis. (2017). Anywhere Farm. G. Brian Karas. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
10. Scanlon, Liz Garton. (2020). Thank You, Garden. Illustrated by Simone Shin. New York: Beach Lane Books. (240L)

Grade 1

1. Brisson, Pat. (2018). Before We Eat: From Farm to Table. Illustrated by Mary Azarian. Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House Publishers. (610L)
2. Brisson, Pat. (2000). Wanda’s Roses. Illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press. (640L)
3. Contreras, Kathleen. (2018).Harvesting Friends / Cosechando Amigos. Illustrated by Gary Undercuffler. Flagstaff, AZ: Piñata Books. (710L)
4. DiSalvo-Ryan, DyAnne. (2019). City Green. New York: HarperCollins. (570L)
5. Flemming, Candace. (2002). Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! Illustrated by G. Brian Karas.New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. (560L)
6. Gibbons, Gail. (1991). From Seed to Plant. New York: Holiday House. (560L)
7. Hillery, Tony. (2020). Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood. Illustrated by Jesse Hartland. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books.
8. Incao, Denise A. (2019). Nos Gusta Cultivar Nuestros Alimentos / We Like to Grow Our Food. Illustrated by Valentina Jaskina. Chino Valley, AZ: Kalindi Press.
9. Martin, Jacqueline Briggs and Will Allen. (2016). Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table. Illustrated by  Eric-Shabazz Larkin. San Francisco, CA: Readers to Eaters. (620L)
10. McKanna, Tim. In a Garden.  Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books. (770L)

Grade 2

1. Ancona, George. (2015). It's Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School's Garden. Somerville, MA: Somerset. (910L)
2. Ancona, George. (2016). Nuestro huerto: De la semilla a la cosecha en el huerto del colegio. Somerville, MA: Somerset. (850L)
3. Detlefsen, Lisl H. (2019). Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book about Food and Farming. Illustrated by Renée Kurilla. Washington, DC: Feeding Minds Press. (910L)
4. Lovejoy, Sharon. (1999). Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children. Workman Publishing Company. (176 pp.)
5. Messner, Kate. (2017). Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt. Illustrated by. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. (730L)
6. Milway, Katie Smith. (2020). The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough. Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault. Tonawanda, NY:  Kids Can Pres.  (820L)
7. Paul, Miranda & Baptiste Paul. (2019). I Am a Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon. Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press. (810L)
8. Schaefer, Carole. (2017). The Children's Garden: Growing Food in the City. Illustrated by Pierr Morgan. Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot. (910L)
9. Schaub, Michelle. (2017). Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers' Market. Illustrated by Amy Huntington. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
10. Tate, Nikki. (2013). Down to the Earth: How Kids Help Feed the World. Custer, WA: Orca Book Publishers. (1170L)

50+ Children's Picture Books from 2019-2020

from Julie Flett's Birdsong (2019)

These books simply caught and held my interest.

1.    Albee, Sarah. (2019). North America: A Fold-out Graphic History. Greenbelt, MD: What on Earth Books.

2.    Barnes, Derrick. (2019). The King of Kindergarten. Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

3.    Beaty, Andrea. (2019). Sofia Valdez, Future Prez (The Questioneers) . Illustrated by David Roberts. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

4.    Beaty, Andrea. (2019). Sofía Valdez, presidenta tal vez / Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. Illustrated by David Roberts. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

5.    Bryant, Jen. (2019). Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson. Illustrated by Cannaday Chapman. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

6.    Charles, Tami. (2020). Freedom Soup. Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

7.    Cline-Ransome, Lesa. (2020). The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne. Illustrated by John Parra. New York: Simon & Schuster.

8.    Cooper, Elisha. (2019). River. New York: Orchard Books.

9.    Copper, Susan. (2019). The Shortest Day. Illustrated by Carson Ellis. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

10.DiCicco, Joan. (2019). The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan: Inventor, Entrepreneur, Hero. Illustrated by Ebony Glenn. New York: Lee & Low Books.

11.Engle, Margarita. (2019). Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln. Illustrated by Rafael López. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

12.Flett, Julie. (Cree-Métis). (2019). Birdsong. Vancouver, BC: Greystone Kids.

13.Gonzalez, Maya Christina. (2019). They, She, He easy as ABC. Illustrated by Matthew SG.  San Francisco, CA: Reflection Press.

14.Gravel, Lisa. (2019). What is a Refugee? New York: Random House.

15.Gray, Caitlin. (2019). Serena: The Littlest Sister. Illustrated by Monica Ahanonu. New York: Page Street Kids.

16.Greenfield, Eloise. (2019). The Women Who Caught The Babies: A Story of African American Midwives. Illustrated by Daniel Minter.  Carrboro, NC: Alazar Press. (For middle school and older).

17.Hale, Christy. (2019). Todos Iguales / All Equal: Un Corrido De Lemon Grove/A Ballad of Lemon Grove. New York: Chidlren’s Book Press/Lee & Low Books.

18.Hegedus, Bethany. (2019). Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou. Illustrated by Tonya Engle. New York: Lee & Low Books.  (For middle school and older).

19.Hopkins, Lee Bennet (2019). I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage. New York: Lee & Low Books.

20.Leung, Julie. (2019). Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist. Illustrated by Chris Sasaki. New Yoirk: Schwartz & Wade.

21.Lukoff, Kyle. (2019). When Aidan Became a Brother. Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita. New York: Lee & Low Books.

22.Lyons, Kelly Starling. (2020). Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. New York: Lee & Low Books.

23.Maclear, Kyo. (2019). It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way. Illustrated by Julie Morstad. New York: HarperCollins.

24.Maillard, Kevin Noble. (Seminole Nation). (2019). Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.  New York: Roaring Brook Books.

25.Méndez, Yamile Saied. (2019). Where Are You From? Illustrated by Jaime Kim. New York: HarperCollins.

26.Méndez, Yamile Saied. (2019). ¿De dónde eres?: Where Are You From? Illustrated by Jaime Kim. New York: HarperCollins.

27.Mora, Oge. (2019). Saturday. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

28.Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2019). The Proudest Blue: The Story of Hijab and Family. Illustrated by  S. K. Ali Hatem Aly. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers .

29.Paul, Miranda and Paul Baptiste. (2019). I Am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon. Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

30.Perkins, Mitali. (2019). Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border.  Illustrated by Sara Palacios. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

31.Quintero, Isabel. (2019). My Papi Has a Motorcycle. Illustrated by  Zeke Peña.  New York: Kokila.

32.Quintero, Isabel. (2019). Mi papi tiene una moto.  Illustrated by  Zeke Peña.  New York: Kokila.

33.Ransome, James E. (2019). The Bell Rang. New York:  Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books.

34.Robeson, Susan. (2019).  Grandpa Stops a War. Illustrated by Rob Brown. New York: Triangle Square.

35.Robeson, Theresa. (2019). Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom. Illustrated by Rebecca Huang. New York: Sterling Children’s Books.

36.Robertson, Joanne (Atikameksheng Anishnawbek). (2019). The Water Walker / Nibi Emosaawdang. Translated by Shirley Williams and Isadore Toulous. Toronto, ON: Second Story Press.

37.Robinson, Christian. (2019). Another. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

38.Rogers, Lisa. (2019). 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow.” Illustrated by Chuck Groenink. New York: Random House.

39.Rosenstock, Barb. (2019). Prairie Boy: Frank Lloyd Wright Turns the Heartland into a Home. Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek

40.Russell-Brown, Katheryn. (2020). Voice Named Aretha. Illustrated by Laura Freeman,. New York: Bloomsbury Children's Books.

41.Smith, Sydney. (2019). Small in the City. New York: Holiday House.

42.Sotomayor, Sonia. (2019). Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. Illustrated by Rafael López. New York: Philomel Books 

43.Sotomayor, Sonia. (2019). ¡Solo pregunta!: Sé Diferente, Sé Valiente, Sé Tú. Illustrated by Rafael López. New York: Philomel Books.  

44.Thorn, Theresa. (2019). It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity. Illustrated by Noah Grigni. New York: Henry Holt and Co.

45.Tucker, Zoë. (2019). Greta and the Giants: inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world. Illustrated by Zoe Persico. London: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

46.Wilson, Janet. (2019). Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action. Toronto, ON: Second Story Press.

47.Winter, Jeanette. (2019). Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg's Call to Save the Planet. New York: Beach Lane Books.

48.Winter, Jonah. (2019). Thurgood. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.  New York: Random House.

49.Wittenstein, Barry. (2019). A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Neal Porter Books.

50.Yang, Kao Kalia. (2019). A Map into the World. Illustrated by Seo Kim. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.

51.Zunon, Elisabeth. (2019). Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family. Illustrated by New York: Bloomsbury Children's Books.