Food Glorious Food Topic (KS1/EYFS)

This is the story of ten sausages whose plot to escape the frying pan does not go to plan. Children familiar with the rhyme ‘Ten Fat Sausages’ will appreciate the humorous take on the sausages’ fate, knowing that they are meant to go ‘pop’, ‘sizzle’ or ‘bang’ but seeing instead a group of wily sausages who come up with a bid for freedom instead. From incidents with ceiling fans and blenders to encounters with family cats, the sausages’ funny attempts to escape lead to their downfall.

This is a funny counting story for children who can suspend their disbelief and giggle at the silliness of this unlikely rhyming tale. There are plenty of details to spot in the illustrations and the tale will appeal to children with a particular sense of humour and those who enjoy a bit of a ‘silly sausage’ moment.

This is a fabulously funny, endearing book about Nanette who is entrusted, for the first time ever, to go out to a bakery shop and buy a warm wonderful smelling baguette for her mother. First shopping trips are a big responsibility, but Nanette quickly discovers that things can easily go awry.

Willems sets himself an increasingly hilarious task of finding new words to rhyme with ‘Nanette’ and ‘baguette’. As the story goes on, it becomes something that young readers really find funny as they realise how much fun he is having with the rhymes and how ridiculous they become.

The book is a visual delight as well. Willems constructed a French village scene by making 3D models out of cardboard boxes then imposed his cartoon style characters on top of the photographs digitally. This creates a wonderfully unique homemade effect that could easily inspire readers to create their own stories and scenes. As you’d expect from the author of the ‘Pigeon’ books and ‘Elephant and Piggie’, the story doesn’t exactly go as you’d expect and there are several funny twists to the tale that readers will enjoy.

My younger primary classes are particularly obsessed with his peculiar brand of humour and we have a huge amount of fun sharing them together.

The classic picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea has brought joy to children and adults for over 50 years.  Author Judith Kerr is said to have written the book based on a bedtime story that she made up for her young daughters.

Sophie is all set for a quiet afternoon with her Mummy. The doorbell rings, and to her surprise there at the door is a big, stripey, furry tiger. The loveable tiger is welcomed in and wreaks a small amount of chaos, eating the food and drinking everything in sight.

The sheer joy of the afternoon tea with the tiger makes for a delightful story and is a crowd-pleasing storytime favourite for preschoolers.

Nabil Steals A Penguin is an absolute hoot for Reception or Infant classes. With rhyming text and lots of action, the story of how Pierre the Penguin falls in love with curry and steals away in Nabil’s rucksack in the hope of a lifetime of delicious food (definitely NO FISH!) will have your little ones giggling (and also hungry).

Nabil’s family is warm and welcoming when Mum finally discovers Pierre in the bath, and they feed up their visitor with joy. The book works well as a class read as there’s plenty you can act out with lots of expression; but the illustrations are great for a shared-focus read with a parent too as there’s lots to see. The colours are vibrant but not overwhelming. I would suggest younger children would borrow this most often from the library, but any primary children just starting French would also find it fun to hear the greetings (and a few “ooh la las!”) in context.

The book comes with the Nosy Crow “Stories Aloud” QR code, so that you can listen along, which is a great bonus.

We love Michelle Robinson’s funny books that give favourite foods a new lease of life!

When Ice Cream Had a Meltdown is a super story book about an ice cream (Mr Whippy style, complete with cone and flake) who feels saddened that none of the customers ever chooses his plain flavour over the more exciting, commercialised lollies on offer from the ice cream van. Young readers love the emotive expressions and the different ice cream characters, and will surely relate to the ice cream’s struggle to control his emotions as the tension builds towards a full on meltdown.

Children love talking about which ice creams they would choose as much as the story itself (the end pages offer a brilliant visual menu of options!). This rhyming text is a good book to choose for a lighthearted and fun storytime to bring smiles to faces young and old.

We love the Daisy books! Eat Your Peas is one of the earlier picture books featuring the much-loved character Daisy, who now also stars in her own series of illustrated chapter books too.

This story introduces younger children to the popular character and many readers will relate to the scenario Daisy faces when she finds herself with a plate of peas in front of her at dinnertime. The story features a repeated refrain of “I Don’t Like Peas” – which children love to join in with – and readers will adore the escalating promises Mum makes to try to tempt Daisy to eat her veg.  The close-up illustrations of facial expressions help preschool children to interpret and understand character emotions, and the additional pea-themed details to spot throughout the pages are so much fun too (look out for Mum’s necklace and earrings!).

How would you solve the problem if 1 million wasps invaded your town? The residents of Itching Down find a creative solution by trying to construct a giant jam sandwich to trap the wasps.

Some of the language and illustrations seem quaint to modern readers, but this adds to the retro charm of the book and the strong rhyming structure carries the story at a great pace. Children love the imaginative efforts of the townspeople (supersize food always seems to capture young children’s imaginations) and the story could lead into a host of creative activities including baking, designing, acting and drawing.

This classic rhyming picturebook and classroom favourite has stood the test of time and is still a big hit in Reception and KS1 classrooms.

We can’t get enough of Pumpkin Soup and it is a real story time favourite for Reception and KS1 children.

Cat, Duck and Squirrel are friends who live in an old white cabin, making pumpkin soup together every day. One day, the strength of their relationship is put to the test when duck decides to switch roles and what follows is a compassionate adventure about friendship and belonging.

We adore the warm, vibrant colours of the illustrations, the rich language and captivating storytelling in this autumn-time classic.

Mr Wolf wants to make pancakes but he is going to need some help. Underconfident in his ability to read the recipe, shop for ingredients, understand measures and mix up the batter, Mr Wolf calls on a host of familiar fairy tale friends for help. When his friends refuse to help, Mr Wolf is left to figure it out all by himself. But will they change their tune when it comes to eating time? Young readers love spotting familiar faces in this humorous pancake-day take on the Little Red Hen story with its own subversive twist at the end.

There’s so much to like about this colourful picturebook: the lively illustrations, including endpapers; the different fonts which are almost as expressive as the text and conjure up beautifully the scents and sounds of Caribbean culture, the warmth conveyed by artful storytelling, warmth which derives from Faruq’s relationship with the characters who shape his culinary (and boyhood) journey; not to mention the addition of a recipe for lime cookies.

This is a story to make your mouth and your eyes water – as if witness to the work of cooking up a sumptuous family feast and then finding yourself invited too. It’s a book that lends itself to being read aloud in class or at home (and even more so if the dialect sounds authentic). It would also work well in a nurture group setting, allowing the children a hand at making some of the food and as a celebration of different cultures.

Pancakes are eaten all around the world, with different variations, traditions and names in different countries. This story is set in Kenya and features the spiced pancakes shared at an unplanned community meal (there’s a recipe in the back of the book, too). When Adika hears that Mama is making pancakes, he is so happy that he invites everyone he sees to his house to eat them. He reassures Mama that they will have enough flour, but Mama is worried. A heartening story about the power of community, with plenty of added information about daily life in one Kenyan village.

This simple story, of a favourite dish first eaten in India and later recreated to perfection by Monica’s father, is as much a delight to the eye as butter chicken is to all those who share it (Cousin Anya, Uncle Jai, Grandma, Jiya and Hadi, and the neighbours too). And it’s not sickly sweet: Anya struggles, as would many, young or old, with the prospect of sharing: she wanted to keep what was so special between her and Papa. But it becomes clear to her and us that “beautiful things do happen when you share food like this.”

Hospitality doesn’t diminish the experience; it enhances it, like spices in a pan. Each guest adds a new flavour to the mix; each has something to bring to the occasion.

A heartwarming and celebratory tale which could well prompt other children to delve into their own family’s culinary and/or cultural history. There could well be some lively discussion around food and family life as a result.

This popular picture book tells the story of fussy eater Oliver, who will not eat anything but chips. One day Grandpa sets him a challenge that helps him to learn to try new foods from the vegetable patch and Oliver is surprised by what he finds out.

Children often charge to the chocolate aisle, but do they know their favourite treat started out as a bean? They might lap up ketchup, but can they guess how many tomatoes it takes to fill a ketchup bottle? Young learners will discover that llamas and camels have a hand (or hoof) in cheese-making, that bees spit runny honey from their tummies into honeycomb and beat their wings to make it thicker, and how strawberries can be used to clean teeth!

Each food selected is presented through an information section, a foodie craft and two delicious recipes to get children up-close to the ingredient they’ve been learning about. 

This is an unusual illustrated non-fiction book all about food and eating around the world. This book goes beyond the usual sections one might expect to find in a non-fiction book about food. There are pages about eating utensils, smelly food, specific foods such as bananas and noodles and spices. Each page uses rich descriptive language and manages to conjure up the smells, tastes and sights of unusual food from around the world.

What is particularly useful are the handy phonetic pronunciation guides for each food. The list of different countries covered is diverse and includes countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Peru and Albania. Helpfully, at the end of the book, there is a world map with all of the 69 countries mentioned highlighted.

The book is simply illustrated with bold and clear pictures of the food and of children eating and enjoying food. On the final pages, there is mention of climate change and how food will change in the future, including some interesting insect-eating illustrations here.

The language will appeal to children in KS1, being both engaging but also clear and informative. The book provides interesting general facts, such as how many varieties of rice there are, but also unusual and specific examples that illustrate the general facts, including a variety of rice dishes from around the world.