This fall brings a bountiful crop of cookbooks for kids to use in the kitchen. Many are standing on strong legs—whether authored by celebrity chefs or following successful first editions—while others are tied to well-known culinary establishments or have a standout visual element. Here are some of the season’s highlights.

Cooking Fun: 121 Simple Recipes to Make with Kids by Rae Grant
(St. Martin’s Griffin, Sept.)

Grant is a book designer, collage illustrator and author, with a background in letterpress printing and bookmaking. To that end, this book—which pubs simultaneously with Grant’s Crafting Fun—is inspired by vintage cookbooks from the 1920s and ’30s, with classic American recipes and illustrations.

Crumbs: Bakeshop in a Box
by Mia Bauer (DK, Sept.)

Bauer and her husband founded the bakery Crumbs in New York in 2003; it now has several locations in the city as well as a new store in Beverly Hills. This kit contains measuring cups, decorative stencils, recipe cards and a picture book, Lolly LaCrumb’s Cupcake Adventure. The book’s publication marks the first time Crumbs has released any of its recipes.

The Everything Kids’ Cookbook: From Mac N Cheese to Double Chocolate Chip Cookies by Sandra K. Nissenberg (Adams Media, Aug.)

Adams published the first edition of this $7.95 paperback in 2002, and series editor Lisa Liang said it has become one of the house’s most popular titles. She and her colleagues began thinking of doing an updated edition right around the time that Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious was climbing bestseller lists, last fall. “This is not that kind of book,” Lang clarified, “but [the original Everything Kids’ Cookbook did] really well,” selling 130,000 copies. About one-third of the recipes in the updated edition are new.

The Handstand Kids Mexican Cookbook by Yvette Garfield and Cricket Azima (Handstand Kids, Sept.)

In May 2007, Yvette Garfield published her first book, The Handstand Kids Italian Cookbook, through the publishing company she started. With some grassroots efforts, the book took off, selling at FAO Schwarz and hundreds of bookstores. That book was in a pizza box and came with a chef’s hat; this new one comes packaged in a tortilla bag and contains an oven mitt. “It’s marketed as a book as well as a toy, so we can reach different markets,” Garfield said. A third book on China is in the works; she hopes to publish it in February or March of next year.

Jewish Holidays Cookbook by Jill Bloomfield and Rabbi Janet Ozur Bass (DK, Sept.)

Bloomfield is a children’s cooking specialist, and doesn’t assume kids just want to make cookies. To that end, the book includes recipe for brisket and challah, along with technique and ingredient photos, hallmarks of DK’s photographic focus. Editor Nancy Ellwood said, “ It’s a true family cookbook, in the sense that there’s something for everyone to do, from mom and dad down to a toddler.”

Kids in the Holiday Kitchen by Jessica Strand and Tammy Massman-Johnson (Chronicle, Sept.)

Chronicle has a long history of successful children’s cookbooks (My A to Z Recipe Box; Cook It In a Cup!; The Toddler Café, to name a few). This is Strand’s eighth book with Chronicle; it centers on projects that parents and children can enjoy together. Massman-Johnson is a baker and founded the cake design company Very Different Cakes.

Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook by Paula Deen (Simon & Schuster, Oct.)

Food Network star and bestselling cookbook author Deen’s first cookbook for kids includes recipes for Sloppy Joes and Sausage Quiche, plus information on “good manners” and a glossary of terms like “grease” and “pan-fry.” It goes on sale Oct. 7 with a 400,000-copy first printing. This past August, S&S’s Emily Meehan bought Deen’s second kids’ cookbook, to release in September 2009, which will cover lunches and snacks that kids can prepare for the school year.

The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids by Matthew Locricchio (Marshall Cavendish, Oct.)

Following Locricchio’s earlier tome, which centered on Italian, Chinese, Mexican and French food, this new book features Brazilian, Greek, Thai and Indian cuisine. Marketing manager Brian Buerkle said the first edition, which came out in 2004, sold 15,000 units, a big sale for the small house.