BBR-Little Star…Raising Our First Calf

I have a new series of books to share with you by twins Rhanna and Sheridan.  The twins live on a Hereford ranch in Maryland.   Little Star…Raising Our First Calf is the first in a series of books that follows Star and the girls as they grow up together.

When they are 3 years old, they go to check the newborn calves with dad and find a set of twins just like them.  The cow wouldn’t take care of one of the calves (which is often the case see the Tale of 2 Twins) and said they could take care it. 

They named her Little Star.  The book shows the girls mixing the milk and talks about what is in the milk replacer and how big the bottle is that they use.

It is funny when the family decides they should teach Star to lead by halter, so they can take her to the fair.  They even let their city friends help them and they all find out is not as easy as they think it will be.

When Star gets older, she gets grain and hay to eat, just like the older calves.

The pictures in this book are absolutely stunning and truly catch the work and fun that farm kids enjoy.  I love that there is a glossary of farm terms in the back of the book.  There are even a few ag facts about the different breeds of cattle and the ownership of U.S. farms.

Be sure to follow along as there are more books from the twins or you can order the books here.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR-Growing Up Strong

The fifth book in the Kansas Farm Bureau Series in Growing Up Strong.

We have already looked at:

Milk Comes From A Cow

The Soil Neighborhood

Farmers and Ranchers Care about Their Animals

Celebrate Wheat

Kailey’s mom is a pediatrician and is a guest speaker at her school. She talked about the food the kids eat.  When Kailey gets home, she calls Grandma to tell her all about the presentation.

Kailey’s mom was sure to talk about how farmers and rancher care for their animals and land to produce safe, nutritious food for all of us.  She talked about the variety of foods we should all eat and making smart decisions.

She also emphasized the importance of exercise in addition to healthy eating.

Grandma concludes that if Kailey’s mom keeps it up they might be able to make her an honorary farmer just like Kailey.

The kids like how this book is more of a conversation with Grandma than a lecture about good nutrition.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR-Celebrate Wheat

Celebrate Wheat is the fourth book in the Kansas Farm Bureau series of books about Kansas Agriculture after the books, Milk Comes From A Cow, The Soil Neighborhood, and Farmer and Ranchers Care for Their Animals.

Kailey is getting ready for her birthday pizza party.  She is super excited, but has a question for Grandma.  In her previous adventures, she has learned where hamburger and the other toppings come from, but wants to know about the crust. 

The book shows beautiful pictures of farmers planting wheat, when the wheat is green and growing (like ours is now) and when it is ready to harvest.

I love the picture of the combines going through the field to harvest the wheat and unloading the kernels into the waiting trucks.

Kailey learns that the wheat is ground into flour that we use to make bread, pasta, cereal and even pizza.  She also shares all her new found wheat knowledge with all of her guests to her birthday party.

The Flat Aggie report from Kim’s County Line has some very similar pictures from the book that you might enjoy.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR-The Soil Neighborhood

The Soil Neighborhood

by Dan Yunk and Steve Swaffer

Second in the series of Kansas Farm Bureau books is The Soil Neighborhood by Dan Yunk and my friend Steve Swaffer.  Learning about dirt soil isn't that much fun for most kids, so when a book tells the story of underground to kids in a fun way I tend to like it.  

Once again Kailey is visiting Grandma and Grandpa.  Kailey wishes dirt didn't exist, so she wouldn't have to take baths.

Grandma explains there is a whole neighborhood under a wheat field who work together to make soil a good place for plants to grow.  

Rocky, Clay and Sandy work with earthworms and bacteria to make the soil a place that plants like for their roots to grow.

Soil is important for lots of things we use everyday especially food like I mentioned in the Soil-It's What's For Supper lesson.  

Other books in the Farm Bureau Series include:

• Milk Comes From a Cow?
•  Farmers and Ranchers Care about their Animals
• Celebrate Wheat!
• Growing Up Strong

These books can be ordered on the KFB website.  The staff at Kansas Farm Bureau has worked hard to have great resources to go along with the books.  There are free lesson plans for teachers and parents as well as videos and fact sheets on the above web page.

What is your favorite kids book about farming?  Is it on my Book Barn List of ag books?

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR- Milk Comes from A Cow?

The latest installment of my Book Barn Reviews comes from the folks at Kansas Farm Bureau.  They have a great set of books that teach kids about agriculture written by their former CEO Dan Yunk.

The first book in the series is called Milk Comes from a Cow?

  In this book the readers are introduced to Kailey who lives in the city, but comes to visit Grandma and Grandpa on the farm.  Kailey tells Grandma that she is out of milk and they need to go to the grocery store, because that is where milk comes from.  Grandma is quick to teach Kailey the truth about where milk comes from.

Grandma takes Kailey to Farmer George's farm where she gets to see real black and white milk cows called Holsteins.  She learns how much they eat and drink and how farmers get the milk from the cow to the grocery store.

Yunk even answers the age old question, "Does chocolate milk come from brown cows?"

I love the real pictures of dairy cows in bright vivid colors.  My boys love the accurate information that they can read about farms different than ours.

These books can be ordered on the KFB website.  The staff at Kansas Farm Bureau has worked hard to have great resources to go along with the books.  There are free lesson plans for teachers and parents as well as videos and fact sheets on the above web page.

Just a few weeks ago I found that they released a new app for tablets and phones called Milk comes from a Cow.  Search Kansas Farm Bureau and you should find it.

Other books in the Farm Bureau Series include:

• The Soil Neighborhood
•  Farmers and Ranchers Care about their Animals
• Celebrate Wheat!
• Growing Up Strong

What is your favorite kids book about farming?  Is it on my Book Barn List of ag books?

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR- Buzz-Buzz, Busy Bees

A fun larger board book for parents to read to their little ones or for beginning readers is Buzz-Buzz Busy Bees by Dawn Bentley and illustrated by Heather Cahoon.

All over the farm animals are asking the bees to come play with them.  One by one the bees leave the pages saying they have work to do.  My kids always liked the bright illustrations and repetitive natures.

On the last page is a light sensor and when you open the page you hear the bees buzzing.  The kids finally learn what the bees were busy doing...making honey for the farmer.

We loved this simple, colorful book when both of the boys were younger. 


Looking for more about Honey and Bees?  Check out these resources online:

The Honey Files: A Bee's Life (Grades 4-6)
Bees are Amazing
Here's the Buzz about Honey Bees (Missouri Farm Bureau)

What are some of your favorite books about how food is made?  Feel free to add any other honey bee educational material links in the comments.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Check out the rest of my 30 days of Farm Mom Tips and the other farm bloggers joining me.

BBR- Mrs. Wishy Washy

Farm books come in all shapes and sizes at our house.  My second grader is getting back into the swing of school.  I have this whole pile of books in the office that I need to write Book Barn Reviews about.

He picked up Mrs. Wishy Washy this week by Joy Cowley.  We have the board book edition.  We are having a competition to see who can get this BBR done or math homework done first.  While this book is well below his grade level, I am just happy he is willing to read part of the time.

We have read this book a lot as the boys grew up.  In fact, I think it rode in the feed truck all one winter.  I used to read quite often to the boys between pastures.  Yes, my boys grew up riding in a feed truck.  We read books while dad drove and they learned to count by counting cows.  In fact, the boys have been good at subtraction just from riding with us.  The conversations often go like this, "We are missing 5 cows."  "There are 2 cows."  "That means we still need 3 cows."

Ok, back to the Book Barn Review.

Mrs. Wishy Washy does not like that the animals have rolled in the mud and gives them all a bath.  The author uses a lot of repeating phrases that are fun to say like, "Oh Lovely mud" and "wishy washy, wishy washy."

If you are looking for a very early reader or a book that is just fun to read to the new kid in the family, I highly recommend Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley.

What has been one of your favorite farm books to read to the kids or grandkids? 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR-Cowboy Small

Teaching kids about farming and ranching is something that I totally enjoy.  I think every kid should know that their food comes from the ground and NOT a grocery store or factory.  My boys have a collection of books that talk about farming and ranching.  Some are stories about things we grow, but many are not.   This is the first in a series of book reviews, called the Book Barn Review, our family plans to do, to help you find accurate books with stories about farming and ranching.

The absolute favorite book of our family was given to us by a family that owns ground that we farm. 

Apparently, Cowboy Small was our 95+year old landlord son’s favorite book when he was little.  We have the original copy printed in 1949 from her.  When we received this book as a gift, our oldest knew he was a cowboy, and since our last name is Small it was quickly the most requested bedtime story for what seemed like a year.

We almost wore the book out reading it, so we went online to see if we could find another copy.  We were excited to find the Lois Lenski book had been reprinted and made into a board book!

The book talks about how Cowboy Small feeds and grooms his horse Cactus and helps the older cowboys roundup the cattle.

Unfortunately, there were some things that were changed that disappointed the boys:

• Cowboy Small no longer sleeps under the stars.

• He doesn’t brand the cattle with the Bar S Brand.

• The inside cover of the old book had wonderful pictures with a glossary of terms for cowboy attire and tack including the parts of a saddle. 

But our favorite line is still there: “Cowboy Small hits the dust.” And on the next page, “Cowboy Small rides again!”

Do your kids have a favorite farm book I should share?  Let me know about it!

-A Kansas Farm Mom