'George the Farmer' educating and inspiring young Aussies during Book Week

Amidst a plethora of very hungry caterpillars, Harry Potters and cats in hats, countless children across the country are donning their flannels, work boots and hats to pay homage to their favourite character, 'George the Farmer' - or his wife Ruby the agronomist - this week in honour of Book Week.

Now celebrating it's 10th year on bookshelves, in classrooms, and in the hearts and minds of Aussie children, George the Farmer was first created when founder, authour and owner Simone Kain was trawling the internet looking for child-friendly farming content for her farm-obsessed toddler, George.

"He was two and a half, obsessed with the farm , and any opportunity to go out with my husband to the farm he would jump at," Simone explained.

"At the time, I was also pregnant with twins and wanted to find something for George to keep him entertained when his brothers came along. But in my search for farming books or apps, really I came to a dead end - the only things that I could really find were the standard books of Old MacDonald who had a farm and he would collect the eggs and then milk a cow by hand and that was sort of it when it came to portraying what happened on a farm."

Simone said she felt the discovery presented a great opportunity to create a character that showed what life was like on a farm in a more modern and rounded setting.

"I wanted something that actually reflected Australian agriculture," she said.

What began as an educational story app has since grown into a nationwide brand spanning 13 picture books, five board books, a new early reader series, music, live shows, YouTube videos and curriculum-aligned teaching resources.

A 14th George The Farmer picture book, this one based on corn, is due out by the end of the year, along with eight more early readers.

Each book tackles a different farming topic from dairy and beef to food waste and extreme weather - all told through the adventures of George, his wife Ruby (an agronomist), and their children.

“Generally there’s a problem, and then George and Ruby work together to come up with a solution,” Simone said. “The ideas come from my husband and other farmers - sometimes mates from across the country - who’ll tell me about a challenge they’ve had, and I try to weave that into a story.”

Simone said it was important to her that the series also helped close the knowledge gap between children and where their food comes from.

“I came across some statistics that were quite startling around what children don't know about where their food and fibre comes from,” she said. “That’s when I realised George couldn’t just be inspirational — he had to be educational too.”

Beyond the books, George the Farmer now offers free curriculum-aligned resources used in schools nationwide.

“We’ve helped educate over 660,000 kids to date, which is pretty amazing,” Simone said. “They’re learning about agriculture while ticking off key science and technology learning outcomes.”

The brand has since expanded to include music on Spotify, paddock-to-plate videos on YouTube and ABC, and live shows — with their first ever performance at the Royal Adelaide Show coming up next week.

“We’ve just been in Cairns filming a new video on sugarcane, which will be out at the end of next month,” Simone said.

Fans can also visit the George the Farmer retail store in Panola. “We’re only open a few hours a day from Tuesday to Saturday, but we love welcoming visitors — people often take a detour just to pop in and pick up a signed book,” Simone said.

To learn more, access free teaching materials, or follow George’s adventures, visit georgethefarmer.com.au