The best time to start getting kids into cooking might just be bedtime. In the past few years, a wave of children’s books written by food world celebrities—from New York Times columnist J. Kenji López-Alt to Taste the Nation host Padma Lakshmi—have hit the shelves. While they differ in age ranges, they all share an exuberance for cooking and eating, and some even include kid-friendly recipes.
Perhaps the little one in your life would like to join the quest for a missing melon, or hang out with an anthropomorphized block of ramen, or meet an alligator named Al Dente. Or why not all of the above? If you’ve got any kids on your holiday list this year, or a birthday party coming up, consider this list your starting place. With touching stories, spectacular drawings, and more than a few cheeky jokes, these are sure-hit gifts for youngsters—even if they happen to be picky eaters (for now).
In Mai and the Missing Melon, a childhood errand goes wrong. While riding the train to visit her grandma, young protagonist Mai loses the large muskmelon she’d been entrusted to deliver. The story is written by culinary teacher and Japanese Home Cooking author Sonoko Sakai. It’s a touching tale of intergenerational friendship, persistence, and the power (and limitations) of good intentions. Illustrator Keiko Brodeur’s art is sweet and transportive, playfully evoking coastal Japan and bursting with retro 1960s charm. And rest assured, there’s an upbeat ending that’ll leave the child in your life—much like Mai—dreaming of sweet fruit. Ages: 3–7.
Timely for the holiday season, Carla and the Christmas Cornbread by Carla Hall tells a story from the author’s youth. The chef, television host, and author of Carla Hall’s Soul Food recalls looking forward to her favorite dish—her grandmother’s cornbread—every year at the holidays. In the story a Christmas Eve mishap gets in the way of Santa’s cookies, so young Carla and her grandma improvise a corny (I mean that literally) solution. With illustrations by artist Cherise Harris, it’s a nostalgic story tailor-made for getting in the Christmas spirit, and it even includes Hall’s cornbread recipe, encouraging curious readers to enter the kitchen and taste what’s on the page. Ages: 4–8.
By food writer Kiera Wright-Ruiz, who is also working on her debut cookbook, I Want to Be Spaghetti! follows a pack of instant ramen with big dreams of becoming spaghetti. Along the way from supermarket to stovetop—thanks to encouraging characters like Egg and Narutomaki—Ramen learns that it doesn’t need to compare itself to another noodle at all. Ramen is cozy, delicious, and perfect just as it is. With illustrations by designer and ceramicist Claudia Lam, it’s a goofy, heartwarming story about self-acceptance and diversity. Ages: 4–8.
A gorgeous children’s story from Taste the Nation host and New York Times best-selling author Padma Lakshmi. Tomatoes for Neela is about a mother-daughter pair—young Neela and her mom—who love to cook. The vibrant art, courtesy of award-winning illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal, is a huge highlight, and the story itself is just as lovely, inviting kids to start making memories in the kitchen with parents and grandparents. It also introduces the concept of seasonality—a lesson I certainly could have used as a child while insisting the tomatoes I ate in the winter tasted yucky. Ages: 3–7.
This one’s for the picky eaters and their tired parents. By James Beard Award–winning author of The Food Lab and The Wok J. Kenji López-Alt, with illustrations by concept artist and video game developer Gianna Ruggiero, Every Night Is Pizza Night tells the story of a young girl who has decided that pizza is the best food. And because it’s the best food, she has declared every night to be pizza night. After some prodding, she begrudgingly agrees to walk around her city neighborhood, trying various dishes that her neighbors are making, like bibimbap, tagine, and spicy green pozole. While it may not make your kid renounce pizza—and why should they?—it might remind them that there’s a whole world of dishes to try, and any one of them could be the best. Ages: 3–7.
By sommelier and writer Sarah Thomas, with drawings by illustrator Jo Kosmides Edwards, Kalamata’s Kitchen follows a young girl as she nervously prepares for her first day at a new school. Her imagination takes her and her alligator companion (named “Al Dente,” because of course he is) across the planet to India, where they sled down mountains of turmeric at a spice market, climb through a curry leaf forest, and cross-country ski across an open field of rice. Along the way, she finds her courage, becoming excited to meet her classmates—and sample their delicious lunches, of course. It’s sure to inspire a little bravery and a lot of hunger in its reader, and if your kid loves it, there’s already a sequel. Ages: 4–8.
