Food Chains for Kids
Best Children's Books

Selecting appropriate resources about food chains for kids can be tricky. On several occasions, we've had a tenderhearted student watch with horror as we try to gently teach about food chains and the circle of life. Most children seem to love this topic but every year, without fail, a few kids just can't seem to understand why Simba is suddenly being so mean to that cute, little baby giraffe. :)

But, we do enjoy teaching food chains for kids, since children tend to love the topic of animals and are curious about who eats what. We just know from experience that care needs to be taken when approaching food chains for kids.  In general, kids books on food chains / food webs fit into one of three categories:
       1) informational, overview books
       2) books on a food chain in action
       3) books that show what happens when a food chain breaks down. 

Each category is important to teach, as together they present a complete picture of the prevalence and importance of food chains / webs in the natural world.

Pond Circle
(rhyming story of a pond
food chain-- from algae all
the way up to coyote)
by Betsy Franco 
Preschool - 2nd grade

Who Eats What
Food Chains and Food
Webs (a very good
general introduction!!)
by Patricia Lauber 
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

Butternut
Hollow Pond
(interconnectedness & food
chains in a pond habitat)
by Brian Heinz
2nd grade - 4th grade

Trout Are Made
of Trees
(very early intro for
young children)
by April Pulley Sayre
Kindergarten - 1st grade

The Magic School
Bus Gets Eaten
(class field trip to the
beach teaches a range of
food chain/web topics)
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

What's for Dinner?
Quirky Poems from the
Animal World  (29 funny
and educational poems)
3rd grade & Up

The Wolves are Back
(ecological damage when
an animal is removed
from an environment)
by Jean Craighead George
1st grade - 4th grade

Horseshoe Crabs
and Shorebirds
(timing and relationships
in food webs -- it's not just
'the big eat the small')
2nd grade - 4th grade

Sparrow Girl
(true story from China
about when a food
chain is disrupted)
by Sara Pennypacker
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

Hey Diddle Diddle
A Food Chain Tale
(examples of food chains)
by Pam Kapchinske
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

Wolf Island
(what happens when
an ecosystem's food
chain is distrupted)
by Celia Godkin
1st grade - 5th grade

This is the Sea
that Feeds Us
(shows an ocean food
chain in action, plus
details on food chains)
by Robert Baldwin 
Preschool - 2nd grade

Vulture View
(role of scavengers in
the food chain)
by April Pulley Sayre
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Dory Story
(a fictional story that also
teaches ocean food
chains and food webs)
by Jerry Pallotta
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Pass the Energy,
Please!
(rhyming couplets about
food chains. Includes
advanced topics like decomposers)
2nd grade - 5th grade