Chef-Authored Books Call Kids to the Kitchen

More and more chefs are getting into children’s books, either by signing with publishers or through self-publishing. Some of the titles are focused on cooking and recipes, spurring kids’ interest in the craft; some are autobiographical, meant to inspire, comfort, or help young readers feel included; and some are original fiction with a message. All raise awareness for the chefs’ brands and generate a bit of revenue, which is sometimes directed toward a cause supported by the author. 

The trend makes sense from a licensing standpoint, given consumers’ and their kids’ ongoing interest in celebrity chefs and cooking. Chefs continue to diversify their brand extensions, getting into shoes, streetwear collections, cosmetics, and other areas, while still nurturing their businesses in the core categories of food, home goods, and cookbooks for adults. Meanwhile, more licensees are capitalizing on children’s interest in cooking by creating licensed cookbooks, baking kits, playsets, and other items tailored to children, many of them tied to character and entertainment IPs, but with other types of properties in the mix as well. 

A number of examples of chef-authored children’s books have come to light recently, but the list has been building for some time: 

• Daniel Humm, owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York, is publishing Daniel’s Dream, co-authored by Roda Ahmad, to be released by boutique children’s house Hightree Publishing in January 2026. The book is a retelling of the chef’s childhood and his mother’s support for his creativity, and is meant to encourage and inspire children, especially those who feel like outsiders. 

• Jamie Oliver announced a deal in March of this year with Magic Cat Publishing for a Jamie’s Little Food Library series of lift-the-flap board books. Both partners are based in the U.K. The first four titles, Let’s Make Pancakes, Let’s Make Pizza, Let’s Make Pasta, and Let’s Make Cookies, were released in October. Future titles are expected to include Let’s Eat Fruit, Let’s Eat Veggies, Let’s Make Burgers, and Let’s Make Ice Pops. The books, published by Abrams in the U.S., introduce preschoolers to first words, a simple recipe, and healthy eating habits. Oliver, whose entire list of cookbooks and other titles has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, previously published two middle-grade novels with Puffin in the U.K. and Tundra Books in North America, Billy and the Giant Adventure (2013) and Billy and the Epic Escape (2014). The second was pulled after accusations of insensitivity toward First Nations cultures in Australia.  

• Alexander Smalls released When Alexander Graced the Table, co-authored with Denene Millner and published by the Denene Millner Books imprint of Simon & Schuster earlier this year. The book, for ages 4-8, centers on how the chef’s young self figured out how to make a satisfying dish for his family the first time he was asked to contribute to Sunday dinner. It pays tribute to Smalls’ parents, the Gullah Geechie culture, and the role of food in building community. A recipe for Lemon Ice Box Pie is included. 

• In 2023, Richard Sandoval self-published his first children’s book, Viva Abejas: Help Save the Bees, a story for early readers that teaches about sustainability and the food cycle, with a focus on the importance of and dangers facing bees, a passion of Sandoval’s. The book includes a glossary and discussion questions, as well as Sandoval’s signature guacamole recipe. 

• Kristen Kish released It’s All in the Sauce: Bringing Your Uniqueness to the Table, a guided journal of cooking experiments to spur self-expression and self-reflection, in 2021. It was particularly aimed at supporting the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth, and proceeds went to What’s in the Mirror?, a non-profit focused on mental health support and suicide prevention for communities of color. The book, for ages 8-10, was produced with the freelancer marketplace Upwork and released by Tool of North America LLC, a branded content agency. 

• More than a decade ago, Giada Di Laurentiis published the Recipe for Adventure chapter book series with Grosset & Dunlap. The books follow the twins Alfie and Emilia Bertolizzi as they explore culinary destinations around the world, thanks to a magic ingredient in their aunt’s home cooking. Eight titles, each with two recipe cards, were published from 2013 through 2016, highlighting the culture and cooking of Naples, Paris, Hong Kong, New Orleans, Rio de Janiero, Hawaii, Miami, and Philadelphia. The books are still available as e-books. 

• Emeril Lagasse was one of the earlier players in this space, publishing Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Soup!: Recipes for the Kid in Everyone (2002) with HarperCollins. A straightforward cookbook featuring 75 recipes appropriate for young kids with help from their parents, the title was designed to support family togetherness in the kitchen and encourage kids’ involvement in family meal making. It was followed by Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Family! (2004), for slightly older children, and Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My World! (2006), for chefs of all ages. 

Of course there are also children’s books about chefs, published without the involvement of the chefs themselves. In 2024, for example, two books for readers aged 4-8 debuted to tell the story of José Andrés, chef and founder of the disaster-relief nonprofit World Central Kitchen: José Feeds the World, written by David Unger and published by Sourcebooks, and A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen, written by Erin Frankel and published by Random House Studio.  

If you are interested in the intersection of licensing and children’s publishing, check out the Licensing Hotline column in Publishers Weekly. It appears approximately monthly, first in the PW Children’s Bookshelf e-newsletter (free subscription) and then on the PublishersWeekly website (free registration to view).