In the English-speaking world the medieval concept of Cokaygne as a paradisiac landscape made
of food is merely preserved as a part of American folklore the «Big Rock Candy Mountain». This
motif of food in abundance is recurrent in children's literature which is discussed here first
of all from a psychoanalytic angle arguing that the infant's first contact with the world is
established through food intake. In addition a scarce diet as part of child-rearing in the
19th century and the rationing system during World War II triggered the fantasy in children and
adults alike. Accordingly the medieval land of plenty found a new place in the imagination of
the Victorian and post-war child. Apart from the predominant theme of the consuming child this
book also links the notion of cannibalism to the imagined cornucopia of food in children's
literature which is a frequent motif in many children's books up to the 21st century.
