Books About Bones and Growing Bodies
Here are storybooks to help discuss growth and growing with children.

How Kids Grow by Jean Marzollo (Scholastic Inc., 1998). Photographs show and tell what children can do at different ages from 3 to 7.

I'm Growing! by Aliki (Troll Associates, 1992). A young boy discovers that he is growing when his clothes no longer fit. He compares his body now with how he looked as a baby and attributes the changes to the healthful foods he eats. (This book is difficult to find in bookstores but available in libraries.)

The Skeleton Inside of You by Philip Balestrino (HarperCollins, 1989).This nonfiction book provides information on bones. Amusing illustrations show what bones look like, their purpose, and how they grow. The book reinforces that foods with calcium make bones stronger and grow longer. There are a lot of concepts. Choose what and how much you share with children at one time.

Books About Our Bodies and Food
Share these books for pictures that can help children visualize what their bodies look like inside. Use the text to help answer their questions.

The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole (Scholastic Inc., 1989). There is a good deal of text and many images in this book from the popular series. Focus on digestion and pick and choose other parts that will interest your children.

My First Book of the Body by Chuck Murphy (Scholastic Inc., 1995). This book uses a question-and-answer format to explain parts of the body, including the stomach, and activities such as exercise that promote good health.

What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers (Harper Collins, 1985). Through fairly simple illustrations and text, digestion is described. Healthful foods are featured and how they build strong bones and muscles is reinforced. Skip pages and paraphrase to hold young children's attention.

Books to Read Until the Cows Come Home
Here's a sampling of nonfiction books to show and tell why cows give milk and how the milk gets "from moo to you."

Let's Find Out About Ice Cream by Mary Ebeltoft Reid (Scholastic Inc., 1996). Treat children to photographs and text about a favorite dairy food.

Milk From Cow to Carton by Aliki (HarperCollins, 1992). Colorful drawings illustrate fairly simple text in describing the cow-to-carton process.

The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons (Simon & Schuster, 1987). Drawings provide detailed information on how cows produce milk, how a milking machine works, and how milk is processed and packaged for stores.

Thanks to Cows by Allan Fowler (Children's Press, 1992). Clear photographs and text explain how milk from cows becomes foods we drink and eat.

What's for Lunch? Milk by Claire Llewellyn (Franklin Watts, 1998). This book is notable for good photos of cows and equipment in a dairy plant. There are also shots of foods made from milk, such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream.

All About Eggs
Children's books can provide information at age-appropriate levels. Here are some to consider.

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller (Penguin Putnam, 1981). This colorful book begins with a reference to eggs from chickens that we eat and then expands to discuss all different animals that lay eggs.

The Egg, a First Discovery Book by Gallimard Jeunesse and Pascale de Bourgoing (Scholastic Inc., 1989). Clear plastic pages enable children to get a progressive look at the development of a chick inside an egg. This book can help reassure children that the eggs we eat are far from the chick stage.

Move Like the Animals
Our bodies need healthful foods like fish and cheese and exercise to grow strong muscles and bones. Share the story From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (HarperCollins, 1997). Challenge children to mimic the monkey waving its arms, the cat arching its back, and other creatures in the book. Children can also take turns thinking of different animal movements for the group to do.