Staff Picks
StoryWalk®: Rainbow Stew Read-Alikes
Collection
Pick up a copy of Rainbow Stew, one of our StoryWalk® titles, from your neighborhood library and it may leave you hungry for more good books. Check out this list below for more inspiration to get you moving, growing and cooking together!
Looking for even more good books? Check out our personalized recommendations or call us at 803-799-9084.
The library is able to bring StoryWalk® to our community thanks to support from SC Humanities, Prisma Health, WLTX, the Richland County Recreation Commission, the Town of Blythewood, and the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Storywalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.
Fry Bread
A Native American Family Story
Published in 2020
Fry bread is food.It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.Fry bread is time.It brings families together for meals and new memories.Fry bread is nation.It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.Fry bread is us.It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.
Grow It, Cook It
Published in 2008
Showing how to grow plants and then how to use them in delicious kid-appealing recipes, "Grow It, Cook It" is more than a cookbook--it offers a fresh approach to healthy eating by getting children involved in food right from the start!
Badger's Perfect Garden
Published in 2019
"It's springtime and Badger is ready to plant the perfect garden. He has spent months gathering and sorting seeds. It's been a lot of work but it's worth it. His friends Red Squirrel, Dormouse, and Weasel come to help. They weed. They rake. And finally they plant. Afterward, everyone celebrates, and Badger can already imagine the perfect rows of flowers and vegetables. But then a rainstorm comes and washes away the beautiful seeds. Badger's perfect garden is ruined. Or is it?" -- Amazon.
Up, Down, and Around
Published in 2007
A garden produces a variety of edible plants, such as corn that grows up, onions that grow down, and tomato vines that twine all around.
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
Published in 2019
Plant a Little Seed
Published in 2012
Two friends plant seeds in their community garden, then water, weed, wait, and dream as the plants grow until they can be harvested. Includes facts about gardening and harvest festivals.
Strega Nona's Harvest
Published in 2009
After helping Strega Nona plant her vegetable garden just so, Big Anthony takes some extra seeds and sows another garden willy nilly, then must find a way to deal with the consequences.
Growing Vegetable Soup
Published in 2004
A father and child grow vegetables and then make them into a soup.
Growing Vegetable Soup
Published in 1987
A Sembrar Sopa De Verduras = Growing Vegetable Soup
Published in 2012
A father and child grow vegetables and then make them into a soup. On board pages.
Rainbow Stew
Published in 2013
"On a rainy summer day, three children and their grandpa pick vegetables in his garden and then cook and share a delicious meal of his famous Rainbow Stew. Includes recipe"-- Provided by publisher.
In the Garden with Dr. Carver
Published in 2010
A fictionalized account of how plant scientist George Washington Carver came to an Alabama school and taught the children how to grow plants and reap the rewards of nature's bounty. Includes factual note about George Washington Carver.
In the Garden with Dr. Carver.
Published in 2014
Sally is a young girl living in rural Alabama in the early 1900's, a time when people were struggling to grow food in soil that had been depleted by years of cotton production. One day, Dr. George Washington Carver shows up to help the grownups with their farms and the children with their school garden. He teaches them how to restore the soil and respect the balance of nature. He even prepares a delicious lunch made of plants, including "chicken" made from peanuts. And Sally never forgets the lessons this wise man leaves in her heart and mind. Susan Grigsby's warm story shines new light on an African American scientist who was ahead of his time.
Garden to Table
A Kid's Guide to Planting, Growing, and Preparing Food
Published in 2014
Instructs readers how to grow, harvest, and cook homegrown foods.
Every Color Soup
Published in 2018
Describes how to make a colorful, delicious vegetable soup. Includes recipe.
Soup Day
Published in 2010
A mother and daughter spend a snowy day together buying and preparing vegetables, assembling ingredients, and playing while their big pot of soup bubbles on the stove. Includes a recipe for "Snowy Day Vegetable Soup."
Pizza Day
Published in 2017
A father and son spend a hot summer day together gathering vegetables and herbs, making pizza dough and sauce, and playing while their pizza bakes in the oven. Includes a recipe for Garden Pizza.
Green Green
A Community Gardening Story
Published in 2017
In the city an abandoned lot squeezed between two buildings becomes a community garden.
The Ugly Vegetables.
Published in 1999
It's easy to appreciate a garden exploding with colorful flowers and fragrances, but what do you do with a patch of ugly vegetables? Author/illustrator Grace Lin recalls such a garden in this charming and eloquent story. The neighbors' gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of "black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers" that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that "these are better than flowers." Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose.
The Ugly Vegetables
Published in 1999
A little girl thinks her mother's garden is the ugliest in the neighborhood until she discovers that flowers might look and smell pretty but Chinese vegetable soup smells best of all. Includes a recipe.
Fry Bread
A Native American Family Story
Published in 2019
Using illustrations that show the diversity in Native America and spare poetic text that emphasizes fry bread in terms of provenance, this volume tells the story of a post-colonial food that is a shared tradition for Native American families all across the North American continent. Includes a recipe and an extensive author note that delves into the social ways, foodways, and politics of America's 573 recognized tribes.
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
Published in 2013
Follows Will Allen's work to revolutionize the way kids think about food and where it comes from, by developing urban farms and establishing farmer's markets, in order to feed the world.
Lola Plants a Garden
Published in 2014
Lola plants a flower garden with her parent's help, and watches it grow.
Grandpa Grumps
Published in 2020
When Daisy's grandfather, Yeh-Yeh, visits from China, she does everything she can think of to make him smile and finally finds a way. Includes glossary of Chinese words and recipe for fried rice.
One Little Lot
The 1-2-3s of an Urban Garden
Published in 2020
Count the ways two hands, three days cleaning up, four planter boxes, and many more steps show how city neighbors transform one little abandoned lot into a beautiful community garden.
Fry Bread
Published in 2020
Fry bread is food. It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate. Fry bread is time. It brings families together for meals and new memories. Fry bread is nation. It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond. Fry bread is us. It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference. Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family.
Bilal Cooks Daal
Published in 2019
Bilal and his father invite his friends to help make his favorite dish, daal, then all must wait patiently for it to be done.
The Forever Garden
Published in 2017
"A young girl and her neighbor bond over a love of gardening"-- Provided by publisher.
Green is a Chile Pepper
A Book of Colors.
Published in 2014
Pura Belpr ̌Award, Illustrator HonorLatino Book Award, WinnerGreen is a chile pepper, spicy and hot. Green is cilantro inside our pot. In this lively picture book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child's day!
Green is a Chile Pepper
A Book of Colors
Published in 2014
A little girl discovers all the bright colors in her Hispanic American neighborhood.
Secrets of the Garden
Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard
Published in 2012
Depicts a family of four who make their garden their summer home as they prepare the soil, plant seeds, water the garden, and watch for a harvest of vegetables.