School is Almost Out…It’s Time for a Great Summer Reading List!  Reading is a favorite activity for kids at the Barn.  We make reading time available during summer camp because kids love to read and relax and older kids like to read fun stories to younger campers from the Barn library.  Below please find our top picks for young readers who are interested in learning to be healthy by eating fruits and vegetables and exploring the natural world.  Bonus: during the summer time this knowledge can be explored in your own or community garden.  Don’t delay, head to your town library today!

• Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert:  Great book for introducing the garden to young children; Eating the Alphabet — Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z a  good way to introduce new fruits and veggies with a helpful glossary.
• The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons.  A wealth of information about how to plant and take care of vegetables with wonderful illustrations, too!
• Human Body Detectives.  Your kids will love to go on wild adventures with Pearl and Merrin through the digestive, immune and circulatory systems.  They will learn so much about their bodies and why they should eat healthy.  This is a favorite series at the Barn with our campers!
• A Fruit is a Suitcase of Seeds by Jean Richards.  Provides a great introduction to the world of seeds and how they work.  Is a fun way to engage your children in the story of seeds before heading out to plant their own in the garden.
• Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole.  A beautifully told and illustrated book about all of the natural connections of Mother Earth and the garden that fascinates children!
• Compost Stew by Mary McKinna Siddals.  Ready to be an environmental chef?  This is a must-read for the whole family that will inspire to cook up this  compost recipe for your health and well-being of the planet.
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma:  The Secrets Behind What You Eat.  The Younger Readers Edition by Michael Pollan.  This is an important read that gets to the core of “where our food come from.”  It’s best for children in 6th grade and up.  If you haven’t read the adult version, be sure to put that on your list as well!

My top pick for the whole family is Appetite for Life:  The Thumbs-Up, No-Yuck’s Guide to Getting Your Kid to be a Great Eater!  A mom is reading it with her daughter as her bed-time story and they are also making all of the recipes as their “together” project.  After each recipe, she writes about it on FaceBook, check out their recent post about the Sweet Berry Polenta — Yum!

What’s on your reading list this summer?

– Stacey Antine, MS, RD, author, Appetite for Life, founder, HealthBarn USA, co-host, Family Food Expert Internet Radio Show, and recognized as top 10 dietitians nationally by Today’s Dietitian magazine for her work with HealthBarn USA.