Are you looking for the perfect sheep book to add to your library? You’re in luck! This page is a list of our favorite books about sheep, divided into 4 popular categories.
This sheep book list includes reference books about sheep farming and husbandry, novels and nonfiction about living on a working sheep farm, fun children’s books about sheep, and a collection of books about hand-spinning, dyeing, and working with wool, which fiber artists are sure to love.
Jump to Your Preferred Sheep Book List
Sheep Farming & Sheep Husbandry Books
These 5 titles are some of my favorite reference books about sheep husbandry practices. They can help with diagnosing sheep diseases, preparing for lambing, and much more. Each of them is great to have on hand and has something unique to offer both new and established shepherds.
Perhaps the quintessential sheep husbandry book, Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius draw on years of experience to cover all major topics relevant to raising and caring for a flock of sheep. This is a terrific reference book which I recommend to everyone who owns sheep, or is thinking of owning sheep.
Hobby farmer Sue Weaver shares tips and advice for those considering keeping a few sheep for pets or as a hobby. I like this book because it has beautiful images, an accessible writing style, and it’s an excellent entry-level sheep farming book with practical advice and guidance.
Ronald Parker lends humor and wit to this narrated tale about the annual cycle of caring for sheep. There’s lots of good information and insights to be had in this book, and we list it as an excellent sheep farming book and husbandry guide as it does a nice job of sharing the technical knowledge a new shepherd needs in a way that feels more like a story than a guidebook.
Another excellent primer by Sue Weaver, this short book serves as a guide to shepherds who want to keep sheep as pets, but who also value the production of wool and other items that their stock is capable of producing.
Author Pat Coleby blends her experience as a commercial shepherd with her natural, homeopathic approach to sheep husbandry in this book which is a valuable read for those who value natural products, and organic farming.
An excellent, spiral-bound reference book to keep in the barn. Beautiful pictures and step-by-step guides to most sheep management practices and procedures. This is a good investment and a useful resource to have on hand in the barn when you want information quickly but don’t have your smartphone or tablet.
Sheep Books About the Fiber Arts & Working With Wool
Whether you’re new to working with wool and other fiber products, or you’re experienced and simply want to learn more, these reference and how-to books should be in your library. They are all excellent!
Farmer and textile artists Barbara Parry spins a fascinating tale from sheep to skein, chronicling the production of fleece and raising sheep for yarn and wool garment production. A beautiful book.
Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson have assembled THE encyclopedia that fiber artists around the world rely on. This book contains detailed information about every type of wool, mohair and silk product you can imagine (more than 200 total), making it a must-have reference book (and an interesting read) for any aspiring wool and fiber artist.
Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson team up again for this stunning book which should be in any hand-spinner or fiber-artist’s arsenal. A detailed guide to the characteristics and best-use applications of the wool produced by 100 different breeds of sheep. Not only is this an excellent primer on wool, it’s an indispensable reference book that you will go to again and again.
Fiber artist Gail Callahan offers her expertise on dip-dyeing, hand-painting, tie-dyeing, and other creative techniques to color your wool and yarn for home-use or for sale at wool and fiber shows. This is (in my view) the best guide on dyeing wool there is.
Hand-spinning gurus Sarah Anderson and Judith MacKenzie team up for this step-by-step resource which offers actionable techniques for creating 80 unique types of yarn. Even if you’re an experienced hand-spinner you’ll learn something new and dog-ear this book like crazy.
If you’re interested in creating a unique and dazzling yarn that’s perfect for your knitting application, then I think you’ll love this book which dissects the process of spinning many different types of yarns for every knitting project you can imagine. A fun read, and a one-of-a-kind approach which teaches you how to spin wool and dye fiber for specific knitting projects.
Children’s Books About Sheep
If you’re looking for a fun or meaningful book about sheep to read to your little one’s, we think one of these sheep-themed children’s books will be an excellent choice!
A fun play on counting sheep, this book (which is available as a paperback, or a board book for young children) tells the story of Russell … a sheep who can’t fall asleep and tries counting everything around him so he can sleep like the other sheep. Beautiful illustrations, and a bedtime favorite for kids and parents.
Nancy Shaw’s beloved children’s book is just one of the many adventures she’s written about this sheep exploring the countryside. Stunning illustrations by Margot Apple complement this fun, lighthearted read that will delight any child.
Mem Fox (one of my favorite children’s book authors), pens this beautifully illustrated tale which is the perfect bedtime story for little ones. With its soothing rhythms of parent animals saying goodnight to their babies (including a sheep saying goodnight to her lamb), this beautiful, simple book is one my daughter never wanted me to put down.
Similar to “Time for Bed,” Bill Martin Jr.’s classic book isn’t “about” sheep per-se, but there is a black sheep included in the story and it’s one of my all-time favorite children’s books so I thought it was fair to include it on the list. My daughter’s favorite page was the one with the sheep.
Novels About Shepherds & Sheep Dogs
These are a few of my favorite books about shepherds, farm-life raising sheep, and the relationship between a shepherd and his (or her) sheep dog. I think you’ll enjoy them too!
This story from Phillip Keller will be of particular impact to Christians as there is a heavy religious parallel drawn, but at its heart it’s a story of redemption and of a flawed and vulnerable dog named Lass who through patience and training reveals herself to be one of the most talented sheep dogs ever.
Richard Katz adopts a border collie and his whole world changes as he moves to a farmhouse on 42 acres and collects a menagerie of sheep, donkeys, and sheep dogs. Training Orson, his border collie, reveals the flaws in his own character, and Katz learns through working his farm with Orson that in order to have a better dog and flock, he must focus on becoming a better man.