Preschool Books About Eating Beans

Fiction Books

• Author Matthew McElligott weaves a humorous tale about two surprisingly likeable farmer bugs who muddle over how to eat the right number of beans to make 13 come out even. The illustrations in ̶0;Bean Thirteen̶1; will entertain your preschooler through a story that sneaks in an early lesson in math. Another fictional preschool book, ̶0;Anansi and the Pot of Beans,̶1; by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, tells the African tale about a little boy named Anansi who can̵7;t resist helping himself to his grandmother̵7;s pot of steaming hot beans.

Bean Science

• In ̶0;One Bean,̶1; Anne Rockwell beckons her reader through a joyful journey of the bean-growing process, from seed planting to eating. Megan Halsey̵7;s drawings accompany the simple narrative style. Author Nancy Dickmann provides readers with another factual option with ̶0;A Bean̵7;s Life,̶1; part of the ̶0;Acorn: Watch it Grow̶1; series. Each page draws readers in with colorful photographs and large text for young readers and their parents. Dickmann shows preschoolers what a bean needs to grow, how its pod unfurls and where the new crops come from.

Nutrition Books

• Mari C. Schuh provides healthy meat and bean choices with text and pictures in her book ̶0;The Meat and Beans Group." Geared for ages 4 and older, Schuh teaches children about the myriad of options in this food group and how to make healthy choices. Authors and restaurant owners Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen wrote a cookbook focusing on healthy vegetables for tiny chefs and their parents. Within ̶0;Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Happy Tummies,̶1; each section is devoted to a bean-themed title such as ̶0;Let it Bean̶1; or ̶0;Beanpole.̶1;

Bean Growing Experiments

• Children often enjoy devouring the vegetables they help to grow. ̶0;How a Seed Grows (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science),̶1; by Helene J. Jordan, was originally published in the 1960s, but still entertains young readers today. Jordan presents the experiment through the eyes of a little girl who shows readers a series of seeds and what they grow into. She then demonstrates how to plant bean seeds and take care of them until they are ready to pick. The pictures by Loretta Krupinski show each step of the process. Author Jill Frankel Hauser also wrote ̶0;Science Play: Beginning Discoveries for 2-To-6-Year-Olds̶1; as a book of experiments for curious children. She highlights how to grow a bean stalk from a single bean. With her instructions, children can try planting a bean garden before they enjoy the produce.