The Great American Cereal Book is sugary nostalgia trip

The exhaustively researched tome “The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch” (Abrams Image, $19.95) traces the breakfast cereal from its early days, starting as a post-Civil War attempt to create healthier food, to its present, often-sugary form in the grocery aisle.

In 336 pages, authors Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis recount many of the great and not-so-great cereals of

The book is filled with great photos of cereal boxes, that will no doubt provoke discussion of “remember this?” and “did you ever eat this one?”

Gitlin talks about his youth as a cereal aficionado, when in 1965 he committed to trying one bowl of every breakfast cereal available.  Why? “Because I loved cereals and I was a goofy eight-year-old kid.”

This book provides a similar hefty sampling, that will take the reader back to that eight-year-old state without causing a tummy ache.

From the classic cereals like Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, to licensed efforts like Mr. T and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this book, which was 15 years in the making, is a fascinating find for those interested in the creation and marketing of this grocery-store staple.

- Matt Price