Recommended Readings on Wisconsin Food for Children

from the Wisconsin Library Association

By Svetha Hetzler, Contributing Librarian

Svetha Hetzler, head of Children's Services at Middleton Public Library in Middleton, Wis., suggests books related to Wisconsin and food for children 4-12 years old. Her picks may be set in Wisconsin, feature a Wisconsin author, or center on a food associated with Wisconsin.

[See also, EAT @ Wisconsin's reading lists for adults and teens.]

Brown, Marc Tolon.

• Buster and the Dance Contest, 2005. Buster sends postcards to his friends back home when he and his father visit an international food festival in Wisconsin, where he meets six girls who perform a traditional Hmong dance. (32 pages)

Ehlert, Lois.

• Growing Vegetable Soup, 1987. Wisconsin author Lois Ehlert portrays the story of a father and child who grow vegetables and then make them into a soup. (32 pages)

Demuth, Hilda.

• Plank Road Summer, 2009. Thirteen-year-olds Katie McEachron and Florence Mather experience an exciting summer in 1852 Wisconsin as the plank road that runs by their homes brings mysterious strangers to their dinner tables and the plight of runaway slaves to their consciences. (175 pages)

Harrah, Madge.

• Honey Girl, 1990. Dorothy helps her father on a journey down the Mississippi River. She must take care of her younger brother and sister, and the beehives full of bees and honey that they are moving from Wisconsin to Arkansas on a houseboat. (120 pages)

Henkes, Kevin.

• My Garden, 2010. Wisconsin author Kevin Henkes' picture book depicts a young girl who imagines a dream garden of jellybean bushes, chocolate rabbits and tomatoes the size of beach balls. (32 pages) 

Kann, Bob.

• A Recipe for Success: Lizzie Kander and Her Cookbook, 2006. Part of the Badger Biographies series. This biography explores the life of Wisconsin food writer, Lizzie Kander. (127 pages)

Liebig, Nelda Johnson.

• Carrie and the Apple Pie, 1999. In the aftermath of the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871, thirteen-year-old Carrie and her little brother Fritz are taken in by a wealthy couple in nearby Oconto, Wisconsin. They get a fresh start with the help of friends, including a Menominee Indian girl, and the comfort of apple pie. This book is the sequel to Carrie and the Crazy Quilts. (122 pages)

Schaefer, Laura.

• The Teashop Girls, 2008. Fourteen-year-old Annie desperately tries to save her grandmother's beloved, old-fashioned teashop in Madison, Wisconsin. Includes proverbs, quotations and brief stories about tea, as well as recipes for pastries and snacks.

Wargin, Kathy-Jo.

• Mitt & Minn at the Wisconsin Cheese Jamboree, 2007. Two mice, one from Michigan and one from Minnesota, are seeking a home and family when they meet at a cheese-eating contest in Wisconsin. (160 pages)

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. This classic eight volume series portrays pioneer life in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Many references to food are made in all of these stories. (approximately 300 pages)

• Little House in the Big Woods (1932)

• Farmer Boy (1933)

• Little House on the Prairie (1935)

• On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)

• By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)

• The Long Winter (1940)

• Little Town on the Prairie (1941)

• These Happy Golden Years (1943)