It's been said that good cooking is an art form. The truth is, it's much more than that. It's a way to teach vital 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. It invites kids to make connections to the broader world by asking, 'Where does our food come from?' and 'What is the history of this recipe?' And it allows them to apply what they are learning in school in a new context... Of course, the best part of cooking with kids isn't the STEM skills or even the life lessons. Cheesy as this might sound, it's the memories you make together in the kitchen. — Molly Birnbaum, Editor in Chief of America's Test Kitchen Kids, Time Magazine (December 2019)
It's not like there are no other cookbooks for children on the market, but what makes My First Cookbook a standout is its production by a publisher who not only tests all recipes to present the best version, but explores the testing process and why that recipe works better than others. This cookbook differs from adult collections, though, in that it focuses on preparation equipment and methods as much as the recipe itself, walking kids ages 5-8 through the process of each of 60 recipes that encourage math and science knowledge, kitchen skills development, and knowledge about ingredient choices... Lovely contemporary color photos of kids in the kitchen make for a collection that is further vetted by thousands of kid testers, making for a 'best of the best' collection that should indeed be the first cookbook a parent gives to a child. — Children's Bookwatch