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I think I partly owe my enduring love of rice pudding and strawberry shortcake to the Poky Little Puppy.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was absolutely one of my favorite books ever. I didn't own a copy, buy my cousin lived next door and she had it. I read it every single time I went to her house, and I still remember the pictures. Every time I cook broccoli, I think of this book.

It's not a picture book, but it's memorably illustrated and can't be left out of any discussion about food in children's books:
Little House in the Big Woods

There's a nice Tomi DiPaolo book about popcorn.

And so many more I'm afraid to start thinking about it...

Oh and Bread and Jam for Frances. I was not a picky eater, but I loved jelly sandwiches for lunch through pre-k and kindergarten. No peanut butter.

Last one for me: Peter Rabbit in Mr. MacGregor's Garden (Benjamin Bunny, too).

'cloudy with a chance of meatballs', but also 'the blueberry pie elf'

Panda Cake!
It's about baby pandas gathering local ingrediants...how can you not love it?!?!


"a panda cake is a special cake, it's not like any you've eaten; it has apples and roots and bamboo shoots and clover honey for topping."

I remember a book about a bear that sleeps late, causing his family to tell him where to join them as they're leaving, but he misunderstands and winds up making a blueberry cake for some reason, and then they go to a blueberry festival and ... wait, why does the bear live in a house?

For some reason the cookies that Frog and Toad ate always sounded so good...

Strega Nona, for sure.

Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder) and long lists of everything Almanzo eats in one sitting.

I meant THE long lists of...

Pete's a Pizza, by William Steig is wonderful. And kids really dig it.

Stone Soup is the first one that comes to mind. My mom was a kindergarten teacher and used to do a unit where she asked each of the kids to bring in an ingredient. Then they'd read the book and make soup with whatever the kids brought in from home and talk about sharing and cooperation.

All of the Little House on the Prairie series too! I have such clear memories of those meals -- blackbird pie!

Green Eggs and Ham, of course! And I also remember the Paddington Beat books and short animated stories, with Paddington always eating marmalade. It always made me want marmalade for years before I ever got to actually try it. And Pooh and his "hunny." Pooh books weren't really picture books, though. Neither was James and the Giant Peach, but I still always wanted a giant peach!

I'm with all of you who remember the Little House scenes. I remember when Pa was trapped in a snowstorm and had to eat the oyster crackers he'd bought to stay alive--but he managed to bring home the striped pulled-sugar candy. And the sourghum sticks. And the fancy white cake and evil Nellie Olsen's party!

They are all getting named already, but "Farmer Boy" is tops (I even made my own Farmer Boy supper last year, with fried apples 'n onions, biscuits, and ham steaks!), along with all the Frances books--those lunches still charm me (Little cardboard shakers of salt!).

I've actually found, as I go back through favorite childhood books now that I'm an adult, that most of them have one chapter that remains seared in my mind as my favorite, and it's nearly always centered around food. In "A Little Princess" when "the magic" comes in the night and leaves a hot supper of sandwiches and muffins... Another Little House favorite is the chapter in "On the Shores of Silver Lake" when they go to the prospectors' house for the winter and Laura explores the pantry full of food--a barrel of salt pork, canned peaches, and other luxuries... The chapter towards the beginning of "Ozma of Oz" where Dorothy picks a lunch pail from a lunch pail tree, and inside is a wonderful lunch with each piece hanging from a stem inside the pail (which gets shiny silver once it's ripe)... Mr. Titus's amazing cakes in Elizabeth Enright's Melendy Family series...

Oh man, food and books--my very favorite things.

I love 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' as much for the pictures as for the story. I got this for my boys when they were younger, and it was one of their favorites.

Some of their/my other favorites were: 'Chicken Soup with Rice,' and 'Stone Soup,' which I think has many permutations in many cultures.

Jamberry!

"In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak. Learn how to make pancakes in your birthday suit!

Peppermints in the Parlor. In addition to peppermints, gruel and moldy bread and tea are featured in this great young reader suspense novel.

Harriet the Spy. Tomato sandwiches.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was definitely one of my favorites -- what a fantastic idea for a post. I just started smiling at the thought of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

Bread and Jam for Frances!! To this day I love the precious little lunch Frances has in her post-jam days, with all the containers and courses. The beginnings of my bento love? Perhaps....

well, the back cover of "in the night kitchen" is tattooed on my leg, so i guess that answers that question.

Yoko by Rosemary Wells. It's about a Japanese cat who gets made fun of from her classmates when she brings sushi for lunch. I love the author's description of the sushi, "crispiest cucumbers and the pinkish shrimp." I also love Amy Wilson Sanger's books, "Yum, Yum Dim Sum, Let's Nosh, etc."

And whoever mentioned the Little House books, I, too, remembered the food in the stories like the time they poured maple syrup on a mound of snow. Yum!

I was required to read HOW MY PARENTS LEARNED TO EAT in the 2nd grade and fell in love with it. When I came across a copy of the story years later in a bookstore, I bought it on the spot. The book focuses on a young girl who talks about how her parents, a Japanese woman and an American man, met and learned about each other's culture. I still recommend it today.

My 3 year old is quite fond of "If you give a Moose a Muffin..." (as well as "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "If you Give a Pig A Pancake"). She also loves "Dim Sum for Everyone" which has fantastic endpapers that feature all the little dishes and the ingredients that go into them (well, the more westernized ones...no pictures of chicken feet!).
Me, I have happy memories of "Chicken Soup with Rice": In February it will be my snowman's anniversary with cake for him and soup for me!

I haven't read it yet but my students love the pictures in "Cook-A Doodle-Doo" in the library I work at.

Maybe i'll read that tomorrow.

And as a total HP fan, of course I have to mention the foods in Harry Potter - any school feast at Hogwarts makes me hungry!

my favourite is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I know exactly how Charlie feels when he gets to eat chocolate... I still feel the same way everytime I eat them now...

rhubarb13: let's see the tattoo! ;)

Eating the Alphabet, by Lois Ehlert, is my toddler's favorite food-related book.

I completely forgot about Peppermints in the Parlor!

But I also need to recommend THE GIANT JAM SANDWICH, about a town swarmed by wasps, so they make a giant jam sandwich to get rid of them.

I like Best Friends For Frances with its description of the HUGE picnic lunch.

ditto on the tattoo request. I also remembered Harold and the Purple Crayon and how cool it seemed that he could draw pies whenever he wanted.

Does anyone else remember Emery Racoon yelling "Please Pass the Ketchup!" in "The 329th Friend".

Also, what about "The Biggest Pumpkin Ever".

"Gregory the Terrible Eater", by Mitchell Sharmatt. Gregory is a goat and wants to eat only human food, not the typical goat fare (tires, shoestrings, etc.) It made me feel like I was okay for not liking brussell sprouts. :-)

Jamberry.

Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems.

Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk.

I wore canning jar rings on my arms to be just like Sal. And my grandma called me Sal for years.


Sigh.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is hands down, my absolute favorite children's book. I'm actually an English teacher and I use it every year to teach plot to even my high school students. They love it too and get the lesson instantly.

As for a new favorite, I would have to say Little Pea.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081184658X/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2UT41LO187BAG&colid=WTUZLD7XED8Q

It's about a little pea who won't eat his candy to get the dessert of spinach. The mixup has kids laughing!

How funny! My 8-year-old daughter and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods together before bed; I'm not sure whether it's for her benefit or mine, though.

We both love Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The land of Chewandswallow is my idea of heaven (before the crazy weather hits, of course).

We love the Amy Wilson Sanger board books from 10 speed press.

Oh, I loved "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear." It's about a little mouse who doesn't know where to hide his beautiful, ripe strawberry because the big hungry bear can smell it from a mile away. I don't think any fruit has ever looked as luscious as the strawberry does in that book. Here is a picture of the cover:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Mouse-Ripe-Strawberry-Hungry/dp/0859531821

Eric Carle's Pancakes, Pancakes is one of my preschooler's favourite books.

A kid named Jack wakes up one day and wants pancakes for breakfast. His mom says okay, but makes him help... which he does, starting with reaping some wheat and taking it to the flour mill, gathering eggs from the chickens, milking the cow, and churning the butter. I love how it breaks down the entire food production process in a way kids can understand, and of course, because it's Eric Carle, the illustrations are great, too.