*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
As we sat down to a meal of corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes and soda bread on Wednesday, I thought of how food plays such a central part in not only identifying who we are but in teaching us about life. We aren’t Irish but still enjoy the holiday with good food, stories, music and shamrocks. In our house, we tend to go from holiday to holiday planning early for what we will cook, searching for new recipes, creating a menu and looking for storybooks to teach about, compliment or enhance the holiday experience.
We here at BTBL always encourage families to bond through cooking and books. Reading through and choosing recipes, going to the store to search for ingredients, and then cooking and baking together...these activities foster stronger bonds and create lasting memories. Look for storybooks that go along with upcoming holidays or books that celebrate both cooking and reading, such as The Storybook Cookbook by Carol MacGregor, Cooking with Mother Goose: Nursery Rhymes and the Recipes they Inspire by Lacey J. Mauritz, Fairytale Baking: Delicious Treats Inspired by Hansel & Gretel, Snow White and other Classic Stories by Christin Geweke, Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters by Jane Yolen and Cook Me a Story or Cook Me a Rhyme by Brian Kozlowski.
Use holidays to learn something new about other people and their culture and then celebrate the time together with a book. Browse through our Baking, Cooking, Gardening & Food Related books list for additional title suggestions.
Happy reading and cooking together!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 3 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.
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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Hang tight, parents, we’re halfway there! The word halfway though is very subjective. Could be a good thing and you’re reaching an end point or a bad thing and you’ve left something behind, but either way, you can’t go back and yell, “do over!”
It was in the summer with all this virus mess that I realized that homeschooling was going to be the best option for both my daughter and myself, though not without some stress. Mine, not hers. I tell myself that it’s only kindergarten but know that one always needs a strong foundation to build upon and so these early years do matter, so back to stressing. Then I read a blog from a homeschooling mom who said that if she had to do it all over again, she would relax more, read a ton of books and slow down, basically stopping to smell the roses as the saying goes. Slow down and see the value in the small things not missing opportunities that might pass by. And that’s just what I’ve done. I’ve slowed down and look for the everyday teachable moments that might be turned into extended learning opportunities and the end result has been a happier child filled with curiosity and imagination, excited to learn.
I can’t redo the first half of her “school year,” but I’m not sure that I would want to because making the changes that I have has shown me just how unimaginative and limiting sitting in front of a computer screen and filling out worksheets can be and that learning doesn’t have to be just during the hours of 8:00 to 3:00. I haven’t given up all computer work and still offer worksheets and wipe clean boards but I’ve been reading books throughout the day and have found that learning can also take place when you least expect it. For example:
These are just a few of the things that I’ve been doing with my daughter that shows me how her curious mind fuels her thirst for knowledge and how excited she gets to find the answers, and as we say that we are lifelong learners, I too have been learning new things when we do our searches. Don’t ever be afraid to tell your children that you don’t know something. It shows them that learning is a life long process and that we all can learn something new, as well as how to go about finding an answer to their question.
“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”
Happy learning!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 3 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children. Let the snow fall and the baking begin!
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Winter starts off with a month of baking and cooking for Christmas and Hanukkah! December is the National Egg Nog and Fruit Cake month, along with many National Day‘s for various baked goods (Pie Day, Cookie Day, Brownie Day, Pastry Day and others.) My First Baking Book by Rena Coyle and the DK cookbook, Mommy & Me Bake, are great beginner baking books. And don‘t forget to share all of your own favorite holiday recipes! Consider sharing these baking themed stories: The Baker‘s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard, Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles by David A. Adler, or one of Jan Brett‘s Gingerbread stories (Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, Gingerbread Christmas). So, get busy in the kitchen and bake some goodies to share. Bring a plate of delectable treats to your neighbors and those who can’t bake for themselves or live alone. Teach your children to pay it forward by spreading the kindness of the season and then snuggle up and read together!
Looking for more children's cookbooks? Find our favorites at the bottom of our book list:
Baking, Cooking, Gardening & Food Related Books
December
National Eggnog and Fruitcake Month
1st: National Pie Day
4th: National Cookie Day
7th: National Cotton Candy Day
8th: National Brownie Day
9th: National Pastry Day
10th: Hanukkah Begins
12th: National Gingerbread House Day
Don't forget about Jan Brett's Gingerbread series as well (see above)!
13th: National Cocoa Day
From Cocoa Beans to Chocolate by Bridget Heos
15th: National Cupcake Day
16th: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
17th: National Maple Syrup Day
25th: Christmas Day
For a more complete list of Christmas titles, look at our Holiday Books list.
26th: National Candy Cane Day
28th: National Chocolate Day
This year of focusing our blogs on our Bookworm Bakers division, where we blend baking, cooking and gardening with literacy, has come to an end. We hope that you will embark on filling your children’s growing years and beyond with memories of baking, cooking and gardening. These offer the best way to learn math and reading naturally through real world, hands-on experiences, building life skills and creating lasting memories that will hopefully be cherished and passed down to future generations. That is why we encourage you to write down family recipes and your own memories of childhood, for all too soon they will be forgotten and disappear forever. I think about the stories my mother has shared about my grandmother and her cooking and the get-togethers with other families who came to this country with her. I never had the chance to meet my grandmother, but I do have my mother’s memories and photos, and my grandmother’s own cookbook and handwritten recipes, so I do feel a sense of connection to my past. If we don’t document our life, past and present for our children, a bit more of our heritage will be lost and we will be unable to reclaim it in the future.
Happy holidays from our family to yours!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 2 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children. 
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Thoreau’s quote gives us food for thought. We should all be grateful for what we have and teach our children to be thankful each and every day and not just one day a year. This is not to say that we shouldn’t encourage our children to reach higher and strive for a bit more, but we should remember that there is always something in our life to be thankful for and that the experiences we go through in our lives, ultimately make us who we are. So spend some time with loved ones around the table or walking among the leaves and think about all that you are thankful for.
It‘s rather fitting that November is National Sweet Potato Awareness month because that is often the vegetable of choice at Thanksgiving and National Stuffing Day is celebrated with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Try out some new recipes for the holiday but also share your old family favorites. Allow children to help out with the preparation of the family meal and when possible, bring the generations of your family together to build lasting memories. A story to consider might be Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen D. Lindsey.
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November
National Peanut Butter Lovers, Pepper, Pomegranate, Raisin Bread & Sweet Potato Awareness Month
1st: National Calzone Day
We couldn’t find any storybooks featuring calzones specifically, so we suggest you choose a pizza story to read aloud instead.
1st: National Deep Fried Clam Day
3rd: National Sandwich Day
4th: National Candy Day
6th: National Nachos Day
Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack by Sandra Nickel
14th: National Pickle Day
21st: National Stuffing Day
4th Thursday: Thanksgiving
Take a look back at our previous blogs, Save a Turkey! Gobble up a good book! and Give Thanks for Books This November!, to see our favorite books to read aloud for Thanksgiving.
26th: National Cake Day
28th: National French Toast Day
Josh Funk's captivating series, Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, can be read on a number of special days as each title features an entire cast of food characters.
Happy reading and baking!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 2 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children. 
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Fall continues in October with National Apple, Caramel, Chili, Cookie, Dessert, Pasta, Pizza, Popcorn Poppin‘, Pork, Pumpkin, Seafood and Tomato month. We in Michigan think of it as the time to head to the farmer‘s market, cider mill and apple orchards as well as the pumpkin patch. Share a non-fiction book about apples, such as Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum or Apples by Gail Gibbons, and then consider going apple picking. Search cookbooks for tasty recipes in which to use your apples. Think about making your own applesauce, which you can then use instead of oil in your baked goods. When picking out your pumpkin for Halloween, grab some pie pumpkins as well for baking and share Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum. Now is a great time to also include a book about fall while partaking of one of those delectable desserts that you and your child(ren) have baked or pop some corn out around a bonfire and tell your favorite story.
This is also a great time to use fall and all its natural splendor to enhance home learning through cooking and baking and identification, using the leaves, apples and pumpkins of fall. Cooking and baking utilizes math and reading skills, and you can use the different varieties of apples and leaves for identification. For younger children, count the apples you pick, count the seeds from the pumpkin, measure the circumference of the pumpkin and collect leaves and discuss the different colors and shapes. Search online for craft ideas using leaves, apples, pumpkin seeds etc. Read a fall storybook and then extend the learning with a craft.
Refer back to our previous blogs to find fall book recommendations:
Fall Into Books! Autumn is almost here! Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall!
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October
National Apple, Caramel, Chili, Cookbook, Cookie, Dessert, Pasta, Pizza, Popcorn Poppin‘, Pork, Pumpkin, Seafood & Tomato Month
National Apple Month
Ten Apples Up On Top! by Theo. LeSieg (Dr. Seuss)
Use this book as part of a math lesson: -Count from 1 - 10 by ones -Count by tens -Practice Addition You can also draw, color or cut out apples from red paper and stack them just as the animals do (dot markers would also fun to use). Expand this into a science lesson by attempting to stack real apples, whether on a table top or your head!
National Chili Month
Armadilly Chili by Heather Ketteman
National Cookbook Month
The Bake-A-Cake Book by Marie Meijer
"Come bake a cake with the cake-bakers!" We found this title at a used book sale some time ago and it has been a favorite ever since. Truthfully, we have not actually made the cake that the two bakers in the book make, but we have used this book countless times during imaginative play in my daughter's little kitchen. She gathers all of the utensils, tools and ingredients together and then carefully follows each step as the little bakers create a most scrumptious looking cake. It is a wonderful learning through play experience!
For even more cookbook recommendations, take a look at our list:
Baking, Cooking, Gardening and Food Related Books
National Cookie Month
National Pizza Month
National Popcorn Poppin' Month
National Pumpkin Month
National Tomato Month
1st: National Homemade Cookie Day
Refer to 'National Cookie Month' above.
4th: National Taco Day
4th: National Pumpkin Seed Day
Refer to 'National Pumpkin Month' above.
6th: National Noodle Day
8th: National Pierogi Day
Every Culture Has a Pierogi by Lorraine Krusinski
9th: World Egg Day
10th: National Cake Decorating Day
Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes and Cookies with Kids by Autumn Carpenter
12th: National Farmer's Day
For more information on farmers and farming, refer back to our previous blogs:
Celebrate National Farmers Market Week! How Does Your Garden Grow?
17th: National Pasta Day
18th: National Chocolate Cupcake Day
22nd: National Nut Day
24th: National Food Day
26th: National Pumpkin Day
Refer to 'National Pumpkin Month' above.
27th: National Breadstick Day
28th: National Chocolate Day
29th: National Oatmeal Day
30th: National Candy Corn Day
Julius's Candy Corn by Kevin Henkes
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“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
A quote from Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor and philosopher who lived from 121 AD to 180 AD yet the sentiment still applies today. Let’s do our best to keep our thoughts positive as we go through these challenging times and teach our children to favor others with kindness and respect as we are surrounded by the beautiful colors of fall.
Happy fall!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 2 and 10 months) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children. |
AuthorWe are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children. Archives
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