I’m a writer and a mom. Kids absorb everything that’s read to them. It doesn’t even have to be super “educational” or full of information for that to happen.
As it is, most kid’s stories that include agriculture show the “typical” conventional farm—red barn, plowed fields, monocultures. Even a book that was incidentally about permaculture—set on a
permaculture landscape, but sort of about something else—will shape the way kids view agriculture.
Say, a story about a girl helping her dad work outside in the garden—only it’s a forest garden. Or digging a
pond. Building a
swale or hugelkuktur. Or going on an “adventure” to find wild asparagus or wild blackberries or whatever other foraged foods you can think of.
I’m not sure what age range you’re writing to, but if it’s meant to be read alone by children, the writing has to be pretty simple. Read aloud, it
should also flow easily—and not be too complicated either. I know I’m often reading books to my kid when I’m so tired my brain feels like a soggy sponge and I avoid the complicated books. That said, the ones with only three word sentences also make my brain feel dead.
Just some thoughts as a mom and fellow storyteller… love the illustrations you’ve got there.