Sunday, November 3, 2019

Nonfiction Spotlight: Kids Bake!



This post was inspired by a friend’s blog post, Literal Candy Crushes by NeriSiren. For Halloween she posted some of her favorite treats found throughout the different books she’s been reading. Everything sounded so good I proposed a bake off and suddenly found myself in need of a good cookbook for beginners!
Cover from Goodreads

Title: Good Housekeeping Kids Bake! 100+ Sweet and Savory Recipes

Author: Good Housekeeping

Publisher: Hearst Books

Copyright date: 2018

Target Audience: Elementary & Middle Grade

Lexile Reading Level: N/A



Summary:


This active cookbook is for aspiring young chefs. It takes the time to explain basic baking terms, measurements and utensils in an easy to understand manner. It has several stunning photos and includes over 100 mouth watering recipes ranging from cookies to tasty pizzas. Just looking at the pictures alone made me super hungry. Susan Westmoreland, the editor for the book states in her Forward, “once you try our Granola Bars or Glazed Cinnamon Rolls, you won’t want to buy them again!” (Good Housekeeping, 2018, p. 7). Personally, I can’t wait to try a few of these recipes out myself!


Critique of Contents & Organization:


This table from page 15 extends the readers 
knowledge of common measurement equivalents.

In the Introduction, the editor explains how to use the book, what equipment and tools bakers will need, the basic ingredients to always keep on hand, how to measure with accuracy, the importance of healthy nutrition, which pans to use when, what different baking terms mean, and basic kitchen safety. This information is presented in a very straightforward manner that doesn’t make a reader feel stupid for not knowing the terms or proper uses for the different types of spatulas (in case you’re curious, “Rubber spatulas are used to fold in flour mixtures as well as to scrape bowls. A wide metal spatula is used to remove cookies and pizzas from hot cookie sheets. A narrow metal spatula or mini offset spatula is the go-to tool for frosting cakes and cupcakes and spreading glazing” (p. 11).


The images, photographs and tables are used to represent directions in the recipes, final, mouth watering treats, and further extend readers’ knowledge by providing information not presented in the text. For example, here are some tasty treat photos, and a table used to convey common baking measurements.


I really appreciate the way the recipes are organized. It lists the Active Time, Total Time, and servings under the recipe title so that bakers can make sure they have enough time to make the treats without feeling rushed. The ingredients are listed down the left-hand side, and below that is the nutritional information. The largest section is geared toward the baking directions. Some pages even have extra photos that explain what some of the less common ingredients are. For example, in this recipe, there’s an information box about what rhubarb is. Most of the recipes also have mouth watering photos of what the final treats look like.
Example of how recipes are set up throughout the book.


Reasons to Include this Title in Your Library Collection:


This book does a wonderful job of introducing aspiring chefs to the basics of baking in a fun and engaging way. Active nonfiction titles such as this give readers knowledge they can apply immediately, teaching them that reading has a real-world application. Because it also explains the basics of nutrition, it also teaches healthy eating in a nonpreachy manner.

Use & Extension Activities:


  •           Make a recipe together in class
  •           Have students make a treat at home to share with the class
  •           If you aren’t a teacher, but a parent, have your child pick out a recipe they’re interested in and make it together
  •           Have a bake sale to raise funds for a local charity


Read Alikes:

Title: Good Housekeeping Kids Cook!

Author: Good Housekeeping

Reason: This cookbook was put together by the same editor as Kids Bake! And has the same set up, great pictures and nutritional information.

Title: The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs

Author: America’s Test Kitchen

Reasoning: This is another book with baking recipes for aspiring young chefs. This book is also filed with several amazing photos and great recipes.





Title: Cooking Class: 57 Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!)

Author: Deanna F. Cook

Reasoning: This book includes cooking and baking recipes for first time chefs. It also has awesome pictures and step-by-step instructions that makes learning to cook fun and interesting.



6 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I love these cookbooks!! These would be very popular and highly circulated in our media center. We have a DK Children's Cookbook with a layout similar to this one - it has circulated well over 20 times since we acquired it in 2017. When young readers are looking for how-to books they want to find something that they believe they could do, and it will be fun to do. I will definitely add these to my wish-list.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my gosh! I love these cookbooks!! These would be very popular and highly circulated in our media center. We have a DK Children's Cookbook with a layout similar to this one - it has circulated well over 20 times since we acquired it in 2017. When young readers are looking for how-to books they want to find something that they believe they could do, and it will be fun to do. I will definitely add these to my wish-list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have made me very hungry. Well done! I'm not sure I do well at baking, so this was an interesting read. Even if it was intended for kids, I could see reading it for cooking ideas :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love that you highlighted cookbook! These were so popular with the kids at my old school. I found students would take them home to engage with a parent and cook together. I appreciate how you looked at how the author has set up the cookbook, it's not just recipes but also explaining kitchen tools and how to do things. Those are key to a good kids cookbook.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Might need to post that "Equivalent Measurements" chart in my kitchen LOL how handy is that!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This was such a good idea to do a nonfiction book post on a cookbook! That never even crosses my mind when I think of nonfiction actually. I would have to agree with you that this book does a great job at teaching the basics to aspiring bakers. I'm sure it's so encouraging to know that a child could use a cookbook that is specifically meant for them instead of trying to figure out an adult cookbook and not knowing the right utensils to use. I love all of your read a likes, not to mention they make me very hungry. It's so cool to know that kids have so many options. I wonder if there are any read a likes that could be other nonfiction books that have to do with baking. Maybe a chef's biography for kids? I wonder if that even exists. Anyways, great job on this post it was fun (and mouth-watering) to read.

    ReplyDelete

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