What's Cooking in Children's Books?
by Lisa Von Drasek
Cooking is one of the most satisfying of
activities for children. The small tasks involved in cooking
also help children sharpen many important skills from honing
small motor skills and hand-eye coordination to following
directions and gaining a sense of sequencing. Through reading
recipes, children learn that comprehension is important. Math
skills have greater meaning when measuring amounts and doubling
or cutting recipes. Not to mention telling time, observation
and patience-— "Is it done yet?"
Our recommended cookbooks all contain clear
instructions, safety information, age-appropriate skill expectations,
and best of all, real foods like green spaghetti, pretzels,
sleepover snacks, and of course "pretend soup."
Enjoy exploring these titles and create your own cookbook
to share family or classroom favorites.
by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson
Ages 3+
A perfect beginning for fun in the kitchen from the authors
of the beloved . This book contains a collection
of vegetarian recipes for the very young. Each recipe begins
with the traditional list of ingredients and directions for
concocting such kid-friendly recipes as "Green Spaghetti"
and "Zucchini Moons." Turning the page then reveals
an easy-to-follow spread of graphic instructions for a child.
For older children check out — more complex recipes laid out in
the same easy-to-follow style. Katzen's recipe layouts are
also terrific models for recording your own recipes to share.
by Emeril Lagasse, Illustrated by Charles Yuen
Ages 8+
Celebrity chef Emeril leads us through the basics and provides
easy-to-follow mouth-watering recipes. He begins with a preface
that encourages parents to make memories with kids by cooking
with them and creating a meal together. Emeril emphasizes
safety in the kitchen. Each recipe begins with safety icons—
an eye symbolizes the need for adult supervision, a knife
indicates that sharp tools are needed, and a mitten reveals
that there will be handling of hot objects. Exuberant cartoon
illustrations show cooking tools and clearly label each procedure.
A range of treats from an easy cinnamon toast to a more complicated
French toast will please chefs of all ages. As Emeril would
say, "Now we're cooking!"
by Clare Crespo, illustrated by Eric Staudenmaier
Ages 9+
For grown ups and children who love to play with their food,
here is a book that says go right ahead. Forty-six fun-to-make
recipes include tarantula cookies and a football meatloaf.
Some of the recipes are simply prepared with store-bought
supplies, such as a caterpillar cake created out of Hostess
Sno Balls, and others are fascinatingly complicated, such
as a Jell-O aquarium. Full-color photographs of flower pot
cakes, sushi cupcakes, and pond pie will spark the inventive
food creator in all of us.
by Elizabeth Macleod, illustrated by June Bradford
Ages 8+
This is another superb entry in the Kids Can Do It series
from Kids Can Press. Over twenty-five ideas for making inexpensive
gifts for friends and family using common household items
and recycling others for charming gift wrapping. Projects
include chocolate truffle mice, fuzzy felt gift bag, stained-glass
fudge, great granola, and a homemade muffin mix.
by James Solheim, illustrated by Eric Brace
Ages 10+
This is not so much a cookbook as an illustrated compendium
of poems, facts, statistics, and stories about unusual foods
and eating habits. Featured delicacies include roasted spiders
and squirrel pie. Lots of fun for reluctant readers with a
big interest in the gross.
by Hallie Warshaw, illustrated by Julie Brown
Ages 9+
Cooking is a terrific activity for sleepovers, and here are
plenty of kid-tested recipes for fun. The recipes range in
difficulty from easy snacks using ready-made ingredients,
to more complicated menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Most fun to make and eat are chewy pretzel letters, creative
crepes, and fluffy s'mores.
by Judi Gillies and Jennifer Glossop, illustrated by Louise
Phillips
Ages 8+
This oversized paperback contains more than 150 recipes tasted
and tested by kids. Many family favorites are here— tacos,
crispy chicken fingers, pizza, sloppy Joes, lasagna roll-ups,
vegetable curry, potato pancakes, and strawberry shortcake.
This collection is appropriate for beginners of all ages and
also includes basic cooking terms, helpful hints, safety tips,
menu ideas, and more.
About Lisa Von Drasek
Lisa Von Drasek is the children’s librarian
at Bank Street College and serves as the children’s literature
specialist for children, parents, faculty, and graduate students.
She wrote and edited the New York State Summer Reading Manual,
Discover 2000 Read and, in 1999, was named a Library of Congress
American Memory Fellow. She is also an adjunct instructor
in the Bank Street Graduate School and a member of the Children's
Book Committee at Bank Street. She is thrilled to be elected
to the 2003 Newbery Committee.
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