Cookbooks: Cookbooks: Children’s Cookbooks

The European cookbook tradition brought by settlers to the first American colonies did not include children’s cookbooks. This literary genre is a relatively recent phenomenon that originated in the late nineteenth century, a time when domestic training for girls was reinforced by social ideals, increased leisure time and affluence among the middle class, and the new home economics movement. The first juvenile cookbooks were written in entertaining and sometimes fanciful styles to secure children’s interest, teach cookery, And sugarcoat a substantial measure of morality, manners, obedience, religion, and social responsibility. As in the late 1800s, children’s cookbooks continue to reflect contemporary social issues and child-rearing philosophies.