Images: (c)2006-2008 Marye Audet, Apron Strings & Simmering Things

Content: (c)2008 Marye Audet, Baking Delights

Chef Kyrie and I found ourselves at the store yesterday and as we were engaging in our second favorite activity (cooking being first, book browsing being second) we came upon a book. A cookbook to be exact.
Now, my favorite movie, personally is Mostly Martha, the German version with subtitles. It is a movie, appropriately about a chef. A rather cranky chef. Chef Kyrie’s favorite movie is Ratatouille. It, too, is about a chef. A rat chef. In fact, she often asks me if the rat (referring to herself) can help me cook.
So when I saw her face light up..and her eyes widen I knew she had found gold in the form of a book and I mentally counted my money.

What’s Cooking? A Cookbook for Kids is a cookbook linked to the movie, Ratatouille. It has some amazing, kid-friendly recipes. I fell in love with it. Who could resist Gusteau’s Grilled Cheese, or one of my personal favorites, Faux Escargots. The faux escargots are sliced meat and cheese roll-ups with a pickle attached to that they look exactly like adorable snails on the plate.
With glorious creations like the Eiffel Tower Cookie Sundae, which looks exactly like mini Eiffel Towers, I can easily use this book in a fun homeschool unit study about France.
Each recipe has fantastic photography so your child can see what the finished product should look like. The ingredients are simple, and easily available, and the instructions are numbered for easy reference. Most of the recipes have no more than 3 steps. Each recipe has an illustration of the characters from the movie in different actions, and certain recipes have “Gusteau’s Tip”, extra information to help make the recipe better, or explain a certain detail a bit more.

The book is perfect for preschool chefs through maybe 3rd grade, although at my house the older siblings have all ready asked Chef Kyrie if she wants them to help her make a recipe from her cookbook.

The binding is a covered spiral, so the book lays flat, and the cover and pages are sturdy. This is not one of those books that will fall apart halfway through the third recipe you make from it. It is put out by Disney/Pixar.

If you have a small chef, or a small chef wanna-be Chef Kyrie gives this book 5 stars.

Post from: Baking Delights