Cookbooks for Kids

I didn’t do much cooking as a kid. When I moved out on my own in my 20's, making a pasta meal from the box and opening a jar of Ragu tomato sauce was challenging.

I hope that when my kids move out on their own (which should be at least 10 years from now), they’ll have better cooking skills. I hope that they won’t have to live on boxed macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodles.

At the moment, the most my 7-year-old daughters and I make together are brownies and cookies, but I hope to start cooking real meals with them soon. I want to start teaching them the basics – not because they are girls, but because I think that anyone, boy or girl, should know how to cook, so he or she doesn’t have to subsist on take-out food and the kindness of others. If you would like to start teaching your elementary-school-aged kids how to cook, the below are some great cookbooks to get them started.

The Greatest Cookies Ever, by Rose Dunnington (Lark Books, 2005). This book is all about cookies and won’t teach a kid how to cook a meal, but I can say that several of the cookies in this book actually are among the greatest cookies ever. (And I haven’t tried all the recipes yet.)

The treats in this book are very simple to make. My daughters and I love the “Yummy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies” (we leave out the nuts and toss in dried cranberries instead) and “The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever.” The cookbook breaks down each recipe into simple instructions and includes full color (and delicious-looking) photos of each cookie. Plus, the book describes how to read a recipe and the basic tools needed in baking. “The Greatest Cookies Ever” is a favorite in our family.

Around the World Cookbook, by Abigail Johnson Dodge (DK Publishing, 2008). This spiral-bound, brightly colored book is a cookbook and a geography lesson all in one. The book explores cuisines from all around the world and teaches children about various regions around the globe. For example, the “Asia” section of the book includes a map of Asia and describes the cuisines from China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. (They left out Korean food, unfortunately, which is one of my kids’ favorites.)

From this cookbook, kids can learn how to prepare simple versions of dishes from around the world, like miso soup from Japan, tandoori chicken from India, an Italian caprese salad and Jamaican jerk chicken.

The Spatulatta Cookbook, by Isabella and Olivia Gerasole (Scholastic, 2007).  This cookbook is from the kids cooking website Spatulatta.com, which won a James Beard Award. (The award has been called the “Oscars of the Food World.”) Arranged by season and filled with easy-to-follow recipes, the book has instructions for tasty dishes like guacamole (one of my favorites), kalbi (Korean barbecued beef short ribs – quite tasty!), banana bread and pesto pasta (try to say that one three times).