"Food is a love language." "The way to the heart is through the stomach." Let's face it, there is a lot to be said about food and being able to prepare it. One of the best gifts my mother gave me was making sure I knew how to cook. I started cooking dinner for the family once a week in third grade. In middle school we still had cooking and sewing classes as well as woodshop and metal shop. I grew up in the generation where they were still teaching life skills to us, but I learned most of them from my parents prior to the classes. Plus with Thanksgiving approaching it is the month of feasting! Today we are sharing five books for different ages about food or actual cookbooks! These books make perfect gifts for this holiday season or any time really! Two of the books are board books and the other three are cookbooks for kids. We will start with the board books. The first one is kind of about food and kind of not but is perfect for Thanksgiving or should I say pie season! It is You're the Apple of My Pie by Rose Rossner and illustrated by Jill Howarth. It is recommended for ages 0 to 3.
Publisher's Summary:
Show the apple of your eye just how nuts you are for them in this sweet and pun-tastic book!Fall in love with your little one all over again and remind them that life is gourd together with this new addition from the USA Today bestselling Punderland series! Filled with warm autumn illustrations and adorable puns with heartwarming messages of love and gratitude, this punny and encouraging book is perfect for sharing with the ones you're thank-fall for.
For fans of the USA Today bestseller I Love You Like No Otter, this yamazing story is an unbe-leaf-able book gift for children ages 0-3—made just for their little hands! An encouraging read-aloud all throughout autumn or any time of year, this board book is a great addition to any Thanksgiving gift for kids, Halloween basket stuffer, or baby shower gift.
You're my favorite gobble gobble, the tur-key to my heart
I only have eyes for you, so mumderful and smart.
From Me:
This book is full of wonderful puns most involving food but definitely autumn themed. It is the perfect book for entertaining little ones at Thanksgiving or really any day. It is a book full of saying "I love you" and "You are wonderful" with lots of puns. It is a perfect gift to bring for a first Thanksgiving or even a third. It will be well loved, and older kids may find the puns fun too!
The next board book is a diverse book that emphasizes the saying "Food is a love language." In particular food is a grandmother's love language, and it is grandmothers from around the world. The book is When Grandmas Cook by Margot Mustich and pictures by Alette Straathof. It is recommended for ages 0 to 4.
Publisher's Summary:
Every grandma has a few special dishes she enjoys cooking for her family, and this beautifully illustrated book invites children into the kitchens of grandmothers around the globe while celebrating the love children have for their own grandmas.Learn about some delicious and wonderful meals, including chicken soup, tamales, pasta, and borscht, that abuelas, nonnas, babusias, and other grandmas around the world make with and for their grandchildren. Featuring grandmas from the United States, Mexico, Italy, India, Nigeria, Brazil, South Korea, and more.
From Me:
What a fun book!! It takes readers around the world seeing the love of many grandmas and cooking traditional food from each culture. The illustrations have the ingredients and cooking equipment labeled for each cultural food. This is the perfect book for a grandmother to give a child but also for a classroom studying ancestry (or the countries where families are from). Each page shares a cultural meal from different countries (two from the United States). There is chicken soup and cornbread from the United States and borscht from Ukraine and jollof rice from Nigeria.
I love how complete the book is with details. I love books that help kids travel the world from home and learn about different cultures. This book is wonderful in the fact that it shares different names for grandma in different languages and cultural food. The only thing I wish it had was a link to recipes for the different recipes.
Now our next three books are cookbooks. Two of them are baking books and one is a cookbook of different foods. Now when I was a child, I received a cookbook for my sixth birthday. Now mind you I cannot tell you much about the gifts I received or when I received certain gifts except for this cookbook. It was the best gift even though I don't know if I realized it at the time. I still have it and use it! Plus, my family loved using it. In fact, I bought a copy of it for my father when I was an adult because he missed having the recipes. When you gift a young child a cookbook it is not only just the book but also time with an adult to actually make the recipes. Our first cookbook is recommended for ages 4 to 8. It is My Very First Baking Book by Danielle Kartes and illustrated by Annie Wilkinson.
Publisher's Summary:
Winner of the 2026 Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Book Award!Winner of the 2026 National Parenting Product Award!
This sweet, giftable baking book introduces little chefs to simple recipes they can execute (mostly) on their own! Written by expert food blogger, Danielle Kartes, this is the first baking book every aspiring chef should own!
Family time in the kitchen is special. Celebrate all the joyful moments in the kitchen with your little chef with this adorable keepsake baking book! Adding a baking book is the perfect companion to Danielle's kids cookbook.
This kid-friendly cookbook includes everything you need to create the moments you'll remember forever:
- More than 45 fun and simple kid-friendly recipes for breakfast, special occasions, or just an after school snack
- Tips to personalize each recipe to make your time in the kitchen special
- Conversation starters, ideas for making joyful memories together, and even some silly jokes!
Make every day a celebration with My Very First Baking Book!
From Me:
Baking is so fun!! I loved it when I was a child. There were times when I would bake bread every week and always was baking for friends. Since most kids like baked goods this is a perfect place to start them with making food and following a recipe. Since it is for ages 4 to 8, an adult needs to be around to assist with the baking so that is another great gift for little ones. They love time with a special adult, and it is even better if it is alone time. One of my daughter's best gifts was spending a night at my sister's house and they made macrons for the first time ever for either of them.
The book includes fun recipes for typical bake goods like cupcakes, muffins, cookies, cake and more but also for ice cream, as well as some savory recipes including baked potatoes. There are some fun food jokes as well as conversation starters and pages to write down their own recipes or perhaps family recipes for the child to have in their book! What a fun idea!! I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but am always looking for a good buttercream recipe and may have to try the one below!
Our next book is also a baking book, but it is for ages 8 to 12. It comes from America's Test Kitchen so you know the recipes should be good. The book is The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen Kids.
Publisher's Summary:
A New York Times Bestseller!From the creators of the #1 New York Times bestselling cookbook for kids comes the ultimate baking book. America’s Test Kitchen once again brings their scientific know-how, rigorous testing, and hands-on learning to KIDS!
BAKING ISN’T JUST FOR CUPCAKES
Want to make your own soft pretzels? Or wow your friends with homemade empanadas? What about creating a showstopping pie? Maybe some chewy brownies after school? From breakfast to breads, from cookies to cakes (yes, even cupcakes!), learn to bake it all here. You can do this, and it’s fun!
- Recipes were thoroughly tested by more than 5,000 kids to get them just right for cooks of all skill levels—including recipes for breakfast, breads, pizzas, cookies, cupcakes, and more
- Step-by-step photos of tips and techniques will help young chefs feel like pros in their own kitchen
- Testimonials (and even some product reviews!) from kid test cooks who worked alongside America’s Test Kitchen test cooks will encourage young chefs that they truly are learning the best recipes from the best cooks.
By empowering young chefs to make their own choices in the kitchen, America’s Test Kitchen is building a new generation of confident cooks, engaged eaters, and curious experimenters.
From Me:
This book begins with pages on basic skills like measuring different types of ingredients, chopping herbs, cracking an egg, beating it likely or separating it. It has a glossary as well as labeled pictures of different baking equipment. The recipes include muffins and quick breads, yeast breads, savory foods like pizzas, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pies and tarts. It also has nutritional information for the different recipes and an index.
The book also provides various level recipes that are marked by one to three chef hats for difficulty. I haven't made any of the recipes however looking at the cookie recipes I may try them for this year's Christmas cookies! The book has several of my favorites that I'm always trying to find the best recipes for! This book is an amazing gift for kids who are interested in baking or learning to or to get them started with learning to bake and cook! It also can help families find ways to spend time together since most eight-year-olds probably shouldn't be using the oven yet. Since it is almost Thanksgiving, I thought the next page was a perfect one to share!
Our final cookbook is not just a baking book! It is The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen Kids. It is also recommended for ages 8 to 12.
Publisher's Summary:
The #1 New York Times Best Seller!IACP Award Winner
Want to bake the most-awesome-ever cupcakes? Or surprise your family with breakfast tacos on Sunday morning? Looking for a quick snack after school? Or maybe something special for a sleepover? It’s all here. Learn to cook like a pro—it’s easier than you think.
For the first time ever, America’s Test Kitchen is bringing their scientific know-how, rigorous testing, and hands-on learning to KIDS in the kitchen!
Using kid-tested and approved recipes, America’s Test Kitchen has created THE cookbook every kid chef needs on their shelf. Whether you’re cooking for yourself, your friends, or your family, The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs has delicious recipes that will wow!
- Recipes were thoroughly tested by more than 750 kids to get them just right for cooks of all skill levels—including recipes for breakfast, snacks and beverages, dinners, desserts, and more.
- Step-by-step photos of tips and techniques will help young chefs feel like pros in their own kitchen
- Testimonials (and even some product reviews!) from kid test cooks who worked alongside America’s Test Kitchen will encourage young chefs that they truly are learning the best recipes from the best cooks.
By empowering young chefs to make their own choices in the kitchen, America’s Test Kitchen is building a new generation of confident cooks, engaged eaters, and curious experimenters.
From Me:
As you can see from the Contents above this book has various things for kids to learn about working in the kitchen. It has recipes for different meals, snacks, individual or groups and includes desserts. It begins with general kitchen things like a glossary, how to do things like measure, information about common ingredients like baking soda and baking powder, butter, eggs and more. It even teaches kids how to garnish and plate! Throughout the book is information about ingredients and other skills like keeping food hot and more! It also has information about eating healthy and the nutritional information for the recipes as well as an index.
This book is perfect for the young chef ready to try some recipes or eager to learn to cook. It is full of different recipes for various times. I love that it includes some recipes for individuals too. I'm eying the recipe for gingery carrot soup that only makes 2 cups! There are recipes for dinner for the family as well and side dishes. I actually tried the garlicky green bean recipe, and we loved it and it was easy to follow! This book is a great gift that will keep gifting the receiver as they try different recipes and use it over and over. It also would be amazing to gift both of these last two books together!
