Love, love, loved this book! Simple yet engaging. Being from midwest farm country it felt great to be among those farmers who were recognized. I also loved getting some knowledge about farmers in other parts of the country who grow and harvest items very different to what we have here. Illustrations were top notch and super engaging. Read digitally and can't wait to see it in print!

We need more books like this! Children don’t even know where their food comes from, or what foods they should eat, and definitely are not all grateful of farmers and other people who make it possible for them to eat what they eat.

This was beautifully written and illustrated but ultimately a bit advanced for my five-year-old. I think an elementary school-aged child would enjoy this and it could be a great addition to an agriculture, outdoors, industry, etc. unit. I also would recommend adding it to a public or elementary school library.

This is such a lovely and informative children's book. It shows just how important agriculture is to our society in a way that is digestible for younger readers.

This book is in the title. Thank of farmer. It goes through various things that farmers may do and crops they might grow. It covers grains and milk, but also sheep for sweaters and trees for honey and maple syrup. What I particularly like about this, it shows all types of farmers. From big farms in the middle of nowhere to small city farms or hydroponics farms in warehouses and it also shows a variety of farmers. This book is well done and is a great reminder how you need farmers to eat and to live in the world today.

This was a perfect little heartfelt story about the importance of farmers. I shared this ARC with my 4 year old and he absolutely loved it. He already loves tractors and farms and this book was perfect for him. He can’t get enough and we have read it quite a few times now. The book shares all the many foods that farmers of all kinds provide for us and our families. We must thank a farmer for everything from veggies to our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to so much more, even our clothes. My son was fascinated by the illustrations and how much he learned about what the farms bring us. I loved the writing and the illustrations that really brought this story to life. I would highly recommend this book to any family with little ones who loves farms. I also highly recommend it to be used in an early childhood or elementary classroom.

Thank a Farmer is a beautifully illustrated tour of some of the processes and people who get our food to us. We learn about the different machines and different ways to grow and harvest a lot of food, but most importantly, we learn about the importance of farmers and farm workers to our food industry, and to our tummies!

I love the diversity shown in the pictures here, both in terms of people and foods. Beautiful illustrations. Fun times to nom-nom times! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!

I enjoyed learning so much about the different ways farmers grow food. Most food groups are represented in this picture book.

I didn't realize that peanuts need to dry in the sun, and that wild rice is harvested differently from "regular" rice. So many interesting facts about how food is planted and harvested!

Don't forget to Thank a Farmer and Farm Workers too!

A must-have for all libraries!!

@monicamikai @MariaGianferrari #ThankAFarmer #ThankAFarmWorker #PictureBooks #SchoolLibraries #SchoolLibrarians #Read #Books #KidLit

This is a beautifully illustrated story about all kinds of different farmers who supply us with the foods we eat every day. From dairy farmers, fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, sheep and even maple syrup. I loved that this book showed many different kinds of farmers, from country farmers to city farmers and how hard they work to bring the food to your table.

I will be buying this one for my library. Highly recommend this beautiful picture book.

4 Stars

I received this book from the publisher W. W. Norton & Company, Norton Young Readers and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

Loved this book. Non-fiction can be hard to do. This one was beautiful and the photos were awesome. I enjoyed the poetic text.

This nonfiction picture book introduces children to farm work, using poetic text and the repeated refrain of "Thank a farmer" to teach children about agriculture, different farming methods and equipment, and stages of the process for producing different foods. The book introduces a lot of new vocabulary while still explaining it sufficiently through the text or pictures, and the illustrations represent farmers of different races, genders, and body types. I found the refrain overly repetitive at times, to the point where it felt preachy and heavy-handed, but the book shares a lot of great information.

The author mentions some innovative, less traditional methods of farming, but mainly just focuses on North America. If someone wants to learn more about farming around the world, I would recommend "The World That Feeds Us," by Nancy Castaldo. That book is specifically about organic, sustainable farming practices, but it has a global scope and could be a good supplement to this one.

Thank a Farmer is a children’s book that teaches kids the basics of where their food comes from, and encourages thankfulness towards those who help the food grow.

The story itself was very poetic and easy to read, while still being informative and explaining the process of growing various foods. The illustrations were beautiful and pleasing to look at.

I think children and parents alike can both appreciate this book and all it has to offer.

This is a really informative book about different types of farming, with beautiful illustrations. I can't wait to see it on our library shelves.

With lots of action and great word choices, Maria Gianferrari reminds us of how complex the life of a farmer is and how hard they work. AND how practically everything we eat can be traced back to farmers raising or growing food. It's a wonderful reminder of how much we depend on people and on our earth for the food that we eat. Thank you, Maria (and also Monica Mikai for your vibrant art), for this reminder. I tend to not think about the origins of all my grocery store and restaurant food items! What a great book for classrooms and for families interested in raising responsible and grateful eaters :>)

Whether for my environmental issue to show sustainability, my career unit to talk about different occupations, or my activism unit, this will be a useful book to show the importance of farming. The text was playful, but informative, the illustrations were fun, and it showed just how reliant we are on farmers to make the world go round.

The art in this book is everything ! I like the idea for the premise, too. Enjoyed the rep of lots of types of farmers and the details for some styles.

The writing is where I was a little stuck. It felt slightly confused to me in that it seemed like the descriptions were short and might rhyme but then also just didn’t have a ton of flow. I think there was a better way/format to do the description and back story of the product than the way it was done.. that being said, it was still fine!

The illustrations truly carried this and made it great and I love a glossary, too.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Thank a Farmer” is a delightful exploration of all the ways farmers and farmworkers help us in the modern world. Each double-page spread showcases one product that farmers produce.

The text is a mixture of explanation and poetry that can sometimes be jarring, but allows for more specialized vocabulary related to farm production. The bright and colorful illustrations are a joy to peruse.

More information about farming methods and an additional reading list allow readers to learn more about farmers and farming methods.

Classroom Considerations: This would be a lovely addition to an elementary classroom library. It could also be used as an exemplar of children’s non-fiction for high school or college students.

Thanks to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for providing a free digital review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received an ARC of “Thank a Farmer” from NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this picture book, written by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Monica Mikai, especially because it focused on farmer appreciation. I received an advance uncorrected proof, but I must make it clear to the publishers: Don’t change anything!

This PB is an extremely well-written book. Gianferrari did an excellent job introducing food production to such a young audience. What I love about this book is that even though the author included a ton of information, Gianferrari didn’t overload her young readers with unnecessary information. That is where the amazing illustrator Mikai comes in.

One of the best ways that I can explain this is by offering one of many examples. One of my favorite of these examples is when the author told children about rice farming. Gianferrari introduced kids to both white rice farming operations **AND** wild rice farming. The author didn’t hammer on about indigenous farmers in the text; that would have been overkill. Instead, Mikai made sure that kids understood that wild rice farming was performed by Native American tribes in the Upper Midwest, using art to convey this. Mikai did a fantastic job of showing a large amount of diversity in this book, including Americans (Euro-Americans, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/o Americans), Immigrants, and Migrant Farm Laborers.

What really amazed me about this PB is the fact that the author and illustrator were able to pack in so much information, but did it in a way that didn’t drown their message of thankfulness. For example, they included vegetable and fruit farming, dairy and wool farming, rice (both domesticated and wild), mushroom farming, and even farmers who collect and process maple syrup. However, the author is careful not to include information that might upset children. For example, while she included wool farming, she wisely decided to avoid any discussion of the meat and fish farming industries.

For the first 75% of the book, the author focused on how we should all be grateful, not just to farmers, but also to farm laborers. This is so important, but especially today given society’s racism and discrimination of immigrants—especially migrant laborers. What many people fail to realize is that immigrants are an important and vital part of our society, both culturally and economically. In many respects, one could argue that Americans need immigrants even more than they need us. Although the author never states this in the book, they way that she used simple, lyrical words and the way that the illustrator used art makes it clear how important migrant workers are.

Near the fourth-quarter of the book, the author shifts her focus away from why people should thank farmers to how farmers are thankful for laborers, machines, and even nature (sunlight and bees). But what I really love the best about this book is the fact that the author and illustrator don’t just focus on commercial farming, but include market farmers as well. Although commercial farmers keep America fed, small market gardeners also feed a tremendous amount of people.

How can an author and illustrator team pack so much information into a PB that is only 48 pages? To me, I think it has to be a perfect match of talents: beautiful writing on Gianfarrari’s part, and insightful art on Mikai’s end. I would strongly encourage both of these women to work together on future projects.

At the end of the book, the author provides additional details about some of the crops featured in the book, including vertical gardening and aquaculture. She also has three small sections at the end of the book: Further Reading, Further Viewing (documentaries & virtual farm trips) and Websites. These resources will no doubt be extremely helpful to parents and teachers alike.

I cannot recommend this beautiful and valuable book enough. I really do believe that libraries should include this book in their collection to inspire and educate children and adults alike.

I quite enjoyed the poetic text of this picture book and the nod to all the different people who help get food to our tables. There were several growing processes that I was unfamiliar with. The backmatter had a lot of good info too but I wish there had been just a bit more on the actual page. Very detailed illustrations!

This storybook had such a great cadence to the stanzas. It was filled with onomatopoeia- making it engaging for children. There was so much to look at on every page. The illustrations were well done and there were many ethnicities represented. It was also incredibly educational regarding how our food is grown. The book ended with a small section giving more insight into different food production methods. I thoroughly enjoyed it!