16 Food and Nutrition Books for Kids (and Picky Eaters!)

No one understands the struggle of dinnertime more than parents of toddlers who are picky eaters. Chicken nuggets and carrot sticks have been a favorite for weeks, but now your sweet little one won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. And don’t even think about introducing a new food, especially a green one, unless you are willing to fight World War III!

Try adding a few of these picture books about food and nutrition to your home or classroom library. Learning about new foods and how they nourish our bodies might grab your child’s interest.

We don’t promise any miracles, but perhaps these books will expand kids’ food vocabulary and possibly excite picky eaters to try something new!

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Food and Nutrition Books for Kids

If You Give a Pig a Pancake – When a pig wants a pancake it leads to a whole world of adventure. What adventures will your child’s breakfast lead to?

Dragons Love Tacos – What’s the best way to entice a dragon to your party? By serving tacos, of course. But watch out for that spicy salsa.

Bread and Jam for Frances is the perfect book for any picky eater. Francis learns that it’s important to try new foods.

Eating the Alphabet is a great book to help introduce all kinds of fruits and vegetables to your child. It might be fun to let your child pick a new food from this book to try each week!

Daniel Tries a New Food – Kids who love Daniel Tiger will enjoy watching Daniel try new foods. Perhaps they will be inspired as well.

Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli is a silly book about monsters who will eat rocket ships and tractors but won’t touch broccoli. But what are those trees they are eating?

Green Eggs and Ham is a delightfully silly book that is perfect for the child who refuses to try new foods. This classic is always a favorite!

Good Enough to Eat: A Kid’s Guide to Food and Nutrition is a unique book that will help children learn about different food groups and eating a balanced diet.

Check out our super helpful tips for picky eaters too!

The Seven Silly Eaters – What happens when everyone in the house will only eat one food but not the same food as anyone else? Well when they put them all together it makes a special surprise!

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato – Lola just won’t eat anything. At least not until her brother intervenes and imagination takes over.

Escargot wants nothing more than a salad. Until he discovers the salad has a carrot. Can you convince him to try it?

Little Pea is a fun twist on the concept of not getting dessert if you don’t eat your vegetables – except Little Pea has to eat all of his sweets!

If Chicken Tasted Like Chocolate – Sometimes we like foods because we like the way they taste. Maybe if everything tasted like chocolate we wouldn’t have picky eaters.

Are You What You Eat? – Not all foods benefit our bodies or benefit them in the same ways. This book help kids understand the effects of different kinds of foods. A great book for kids in grades 3-7.

Eat Your Peas! – Johnny has discovered a clever way to avoid eating his peas. But don’t worry! Mom gets the last word.

Tales for Very Picky Eaters – James gets tired of his dad going to great lengths to get him to eat new foods and finally decides to try some new things. This book will make your picky eater laugh and think.

5 Tips to Get Picky Eaters to Try New Foods

Model healthy eating habits. Kids who have parents and siblings who eat an array of foods are more likely try new foods. Try to also be conscious about talking negatively about foods.
Let your child choose a new fruit or vegetable at the store. Being involved in the planning of meals helps kids to take ownership. Make it a game to try to find a new or different food each week! Once you’ve tried all that you can find, then consider trying new recipes with some of your favorite veggies.
Invite your child to help prepare new foods. When kids understand and participate in making the meal it’s more fun to taste it.
Give TINY portions of new foods. Provide one or two bites of new foods at the beginning of a meal when kids are most hungry. Another option is ask your child to tell you how many bites they will eat. (My son always ate 7 beans when he was 7 years old.)
Don’t offer substitutions. If kids know there is a backup, they aren’t as likely to try new foods.

Do you have picky eaters in your house? What are some tips you have for getting your kids to try new foods? Tell us in the comments.