Plano Reads: Farmers

Here’s a list of our fave books all about farmers and farm life.

This Saturday on our “Saturday Stories on the Farmstead” we are at the Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano, Texas to have a storytime about farmers and farming! Be sure to check our Facebook page at 10:30 a.m. on October 3 for the premiere.

Picture Books

Hogwash! by Karma Wilson Request
When his stubborn pigs refuse a sudsy cleaning, a determined farmer learns that mud baths can be just as fun

Click, Clack, Quack to School! by Doreen Cronin Request
When Farmer Brown and the animals are invited to Farm Day at school, he instructs them to be on their best behavior, forgetting that school can be like a barnyard

Click, Clack Good Night by Doreen Cronin Request
Farmer Brown puts the other animals to bed but gives up on Duck, who sets out to find just the right spot–and snack–to help him sleep

Frank the Farmer by Felicity Brooks Request
Join Frank the farmer and his family as they do their daily chores and take care of the animals on their dairy farm

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake Request
Farmer McPhee’s yellow lemons are ready to be picked and made into lemonade, pies, and muffins, but when a red lemon is found in the crop and discarded, it eventually yields some surprises

Dinosaur Farm by Frann Preston-Gannon Request
It’s hard work being a farmer–and even harder running a DINOSAUR FARM! Follow the farmer from dawn till dusk, through feedings, cleanings, baby hatchings, and finally to a sweet bedtime nighty-night

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington Request
Annie the apple farmer saves her most beautiful apples to sell fresh at the farmers’ market

On the Farm, At the Market by G. Brian Karas Request
On the farm, workers pick vegetables, collect eggs, and make cheese. At the market the next day, the workers set up their stands and prepare for shoppers to arrive. Amy, the baker at the Busy Bee Café, has a very special meal in mind–and, of course, all the farmers show up at the café to enjoy the results of their hard work

Tractor Mac, Farmer’s Market by Billy Steers Request
Pete and Paul the pigs love to eat, and their favorites are junk food and snacks. Tractor Mac and his friends set out to show the pigs a better way of eating and at the same time help their community farmers

This is the Farmer by Nancy Tafuri Request
A farmer’s kiss causes an amusing chain of events on the farm

Molly’s Organic Farm by Carol Malnor Request
Wandering into a community organic farm, a homeless cat is adopted by the farmers and helps out in her own way. End notes discuss organic farming and present related activities

Before we Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson Request
As a family sits down to enjoy a meal, thoughts of those who provide the food, from farmers who plant and tend seeds to store clerks who sell groceries, fill each one with gratitude

Grandpa Cacao: a Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family by Elizabeth Zunon Request
As a little girl and her father work together to make her birthday cake, he tells the story of her Grandpa Cacao, a farmer from the Ivory Coast. Includes author’s note and a cake recipe

Early Reader

Good morning, Farmer Carmen! by Fran Manushkin Request | eBook
Katie learns what a vegetable farmer does when she visits a farm and helps sell the vegetables at a farmers market

Ninja on the Farm by Luke Flowers Request
Moby Shinobi wants to put his ninja skills to use by helping a farmer in need, but everything goes wrong until he finds just the right job

Junior Non-Fiction

The Gigantic Sweet Potato by Dianne de Las Casas Request
Ma Farmer craves sweet potato pie but needs help to harvest a homegrown sweet potato–in this version of the Russian folktale, The Giant Turnip. Includes recipe and directions to make sweet potato pie

Jobs to Do Request
Introduction to different careers and occupations using simple text, illustrations, and photos. Features include puzzles and games, fun facts, a resource list, and an index

Organic Farmer by Tamra Orr Request
Organic farmers work long hours outdoors in all kinds of weather. They use natural methods to fertilize soil and control pests

Meet the Farmer / Conoce a los Granjeros by Joyce Jeffries Request
Bilingual text in Spanish and English. Farmers know how to get the most out of the land, whether with crops or big farm animals

I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon by Baptiste Paul Request
Discover the true story of how environmentalist Farmer Tantoh is transforming the landscape in his home country of Cameroon

Non-Fiction

City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing by Lorraine Johnson Request
Chronicles the new ways that urban dwellers across North America are reimagining cities as places of food production, from homeowners planting their front yards with vegetables to guerrilla gardeners scattering seeds in neglected urban corners

The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution by Stephen Heyman Request | eBook
How a leading writer of the Lost Generation became America’s most famous farmer and inspired the organic food movement

American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland
by Marie Mutsuki Mockett Request
An epic story of the American wheat harvest, the politics of food, and the culture of the Great Plains

The Farmer’s Son: Calving Season on a Family Farm by John Connell Request
The Farmer’s Son is the story of a calving season, and the story of a man who emerges from depression to find hope in the place he least expected to find it. It is the story of Connell’s life as a farmer, and of his relationship with the community of County Longford, with his faith, with the animals he tends, and, above all, with his father

The Woman Hobby Farmer: Female Guidance for Growing Food, Raising Livestock, and Building a Farm-Based Business by Karen Lanier Request
The Woman Hobby Farmer packs a lot of wisdom and experience into its pages, featuring interviews with and answers from a diverse group of women, including an organic farmer, a goat farmer, an urban farmer, an herbalist, a creator or a sustainable community and more.

Be sure to check our Facebook page at 10:30 a.m. on October 3 for the premiere of the next installment of “Saturday Stories on the Farmstead”