In The Guardian, Jane Brocket, author of Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, lists her top 10 favourite food scenes in children’s literature and doesn’t mention Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Is this woman crazy? Augustus Gloop shows the evils of being a glutton - clearly Roald Dahl loathed greed. Who cares about the Famous Five’s picnics?
The food in the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder always made me hungry, particularly the holiday dinners in “Farmer Boy” and (I think) “Little Town on the Prairie,” where Laura discovers the pantry in the surveyor’s house. The books always skirt the fact that there might not always have been enough to eat, but her amazement and delight at a room created exclusively to store food says it all.
When you think about it, there are lots of food scenes in children’s books - Alice in Wonderland for a start