Simmer up Some Fun
Cookbooks in the Classroom
Joy Fleishhacker, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 11/4/2008
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Not only is cooking a kid-favorite endeavor, but it also provides plentiful opportunities for classroom exploration. Reading and language skills are reinforced as children recognize words and symbols, follow directions, and describe processes and results. Math abilities come into play with counting, measuring, sequencing, and employing time concepts. An awareness of science is fostered as children develop powers of observation, utilize basic chemistry, and make the connection between cause and effect. Food can also be incorporated into social studies units, serving as an entrée into different countries and cultures, or as a means for exploring family history.
Cooking also provides an outlet for creativity and self-expression, nurturing confidence and independence, and building a sense of community with classmates. Meal and food preparation can hone life skills, generate an awareness of healthy eating and nutrition, and encourage youngsters to try new things and become more adventurous eaters.
Brimming with eye-catching illustrations and tongue-tempting images, these colorful cookbooks are written with a keen awareness of kids’ abilities, tastes, and interests.
Getting Started
If you’ve never cooked with kids before, begin with Mollie Katzen’s ebulliently illustrated Salad People and More Real Recipes (Tricycle, 2005; PreS-Gr 3), showcasing 20 child-friendly food projects that focus on healthy ingredients, individual creativity, and hands-on fun. A section for adults introduces each recipe and provides tips on helping children successfully navigate the specifics, followed by a pictorial version appropriate for even the most inexperienced chefs (including pre-readers).
Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook (S & S, 2008; Gr 2-5), written with Martha Nesbit and illustrated with Susan Mitchell’s pastel cartoons, starts with kitchen safety, terminology, and advice on table setting and good manners. Organized according to mealtime, the numerous recipes feature pictorial lists of ingredients and descriptive step-by-step instructions. The dishes will appeal to a child’s palate, and a section of easy-to-make craft projects is appended. Deen stresses cooking as a family activity and includes personal photos and memories. Have your students track down a family-favorite recipe, illustrate and/or write about it, and
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Kids Cook 1-2-3 (Gold) |
If you want to keep things simple, Rozanne Gold’s Kids Cook 1-2-3 (Bloomsbury, 2006; Gr 3-6), elegantly illustrated by Sara Pinto, offers 125 recipes that require only three ingredients each. The emphasis is on the process rather than the preparation, and children will by amazed by the assortment of foods they can create from limited components and buoyed by a sense of immediate satisfaction.
Storytelling Smorgasbords
Help your students digest their reading material by cooking up a connection between storytelling and food. From “Circus McGurkus Pink Lemonade” to “Who-Pudding,” Georgeanne Brennan’s Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook (Random, 2006; Gr 1-5) supplies a slew of recipes inspired by Dr. Seuss’s books and characters. Quotes and enticing introductions pair each concoction with its appropriate tale, and familiar Seuss images are supplemented by full-color photos of finished projects.
Fairy Tale Feasts (Crocodile, 2006; K-Gr 5) offers a
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Fairy Tale Feasts |
Go multimedia and host a showing of Ratatouille (Disney, 2007), a true foodie’s film about a Parisian gourmand who happens to be a rat, and extend the viewing experience by discussing French cuisine and trying out recipes from the tie-in book, What’s Cooking? (Disney, 2007; Gr 3-6). The 28 yummy dishes are depicted in luscious photos, and kids will relish the movie-related illustrations and quotes.
Travel the World
Organized by geographical areas—each introduced with a map and factual tidbits—Abigail Johnson Dodge’s Around the World Cookbook (DK, 2008; Gr 3-6) presents more than 50 recipes for ethnic cuisine. Supplemented with additional information and enhanced with full-color photos of locales, foods, and young chefs, this book encourages kids to learn about various cultures and explore new tastes.
Matthew Locricchio’s The International Cookbook for Kids (2004) highlights classic fare from “the big four” of world cooking—Italy, France, China, and Mexico—while The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids (2008, both Marshall Cavendish; Gr 5 Up) covers the cuisines of the “next big four”—Greece, India, Thailand, and Brazil. Accompanied by step-by-step directions and tantalizing full-color photos, the text is flavored with a pinch of background about each traditional dish and the author’s gusto for cooking.
Kids Cooking for Kids
Inspire your students with the enthusiasm and accomplishments of young chefs. Isabella and Olivia Gerasole, the hosts of a Web site (Spatulatta.com) where kids teach kids to cook, have authored a companion volume, The Spatulatta Cookbook (Scholastic, 2007; Gr 3-8). Jam-packed with inviting photos of food and the sisters in action, this upbeat book delineates more than 50 delectable dishes (from “Yumbo Gumbo” to “Wiener Weenie Dogs”) arranged according to season.
For older readers, Sam Stern’s Real Food, Real Fast (Candlewick, 2008; Gr 6 Up), penned by a British teen cooking personality, provides scrumptious recipes organized according to the length of time needed to complete them (5- to 30-minute intervals). The variety of dishes, the author’s chatty approach, and the lively photos will grab teens.
The Final Course
If you’re searching for more morsels to satisfy the appetites of youngsters, try Rose Dunnington’s series of handsome and helpful cookbooks: Bake it Up!: Desserts, Breads, Entire Meals & More (2007); Big Snacks, Little Meals (2006); Super Sandwiches (2007); and Sweet Eats (2008, all Sterling; Gr 6 Up).
Use these volumes to stir the imaginations of young chefs and whip up some excitement in your classroom.
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