American Heart Association Kids' Cookbook - Hardcover

Gr. 3-7. Targeted at the taste buds of 8- to-12-year-olds, this exceptional cookbook presents health-conscious recipes for such favorites as pizza, pasta, chips, and cookies. Necessary ingredients and equipment are listed clearly at the beginning of each recipe and are followed by step-by-step instructions. The attractive, well-organized format is enhanced by bright watercolor illustrations that depict some of the procedures. Before getting kids cooking, the inviting book discusses kitchen hygiene and safety, particularly in regard to the use of the microwave oven. Concluding pages educate readers and their parents about "heart-smart eating"--limiting fats, balancing needed nutrients, and getting exercise. Like the most sophisticated gourmet cookbooks, this offers sample menus, and, in addition, it "walks" youngsters through a supermarket, helping them select healthy foods and teaching them to read and understand information on nutrition labels. They also learn how to set a table and how to clean up the kitchen. An informative glossary of cooking terms and tools, nutrient analyses of the recipes, and an index that notes each recipe's degree of difficulty are included. Surmounting all these positives is one overwhelming recommendation--the reviewer's 11-year-old son was lured into the kitchen by the book and, using it, has already prepared two delicious family dinners. Ellen Mandel