Confidence in the Kitchen: Sharing Cooking Experiences with Your Preschool Child

Karmel, Annabel. The Toddler Cookbook. London: DK Publishing, 2008.

ISBN: 978-0-075663-505-3

Overall rating schema is on a scale of 1-10. 

(1 too “cutesy:” seems to insult intelligence of adult and child – 10 imaginative and forward-thinking towards building actual cooking skills).

Overall ratings:  Culinary Interest-Building: 3   Recipe Quality: 5

The Toddler Cookbook has the same graphical approach as Karmel’s other books: whimsical and full of color. My delight with the tome ends there. For my taste, the recipes are either too cutesy (Lettuce Boats or Peanut Butter Bears), or too fussy (Mini Lemon Cheesecakes made in ring molds or Multicolored Meringues).

Some of the recipes in this volume would be appropriate for a children’s party to be prepared primarily by the parent as I fear the interest of the child would be lost during multi-stepped preparation. The Artist’s Fruit Palette and Dips (lemon yogurt, raspberry-vanilla, tropical mango and chocolate orange) might pique the kids’ interest enough to eat some natural sugar. This recipe calls for Greek yogurt which isn’t found at my grocery. The transposition from British audiences to Americans isn’t seamless.

Her other books are so much better. If you’re just looking for some kid-friendly recipes, take a look at this one. I wouldn’t recommend it for building culinary interest for your protégés.