Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes A Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up

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Pretend Soup has rapidly become the children’s cookbook classic, and no home or daycare center should be without a copy. Mollie Katzen, author of the Moosewood Cookbook, and educator Ann Henderson have created a masterpiece formatted for grown-ups–with written instructions, suggestions, and caveats–and for kids–with illustrated, easy-to-follow pictures. The recipes are both tasty and healthy, and the quotes from kids are very funny (Matthew: “This is so good, I can’t even say a word.”) While safety is stressed and tips and warnings are included, Katzen and Henderson always stress the fun in food preparation. “Spills are what sponges are for. So keep plenty of sponges around, and a good time will be had by all!”

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Good Book
This book is good, I’m refering to it specially during the weekend to share cooking with my kidd Nasser.

4 Stars Excellent healthy simple recipes for kids and adults
This is an exceptionally helpful first cookbook. The recipes are easy, the drawings colorful, and the food tastes amazing. The author does a good job of explaining what projects a three year old will want to try (cracking eggs, stirring) and what projects a five or six year old will want to help with (washing berries, preparing the pancake mix. I use the pancake recipe for the base of all my pancakes now. I love the fact that the author gives recipes for a pancake mix that can be made in advance. I keep a ziplock bag of a pancake mix and a muffin mix in my fridge at all times. Each recipe starts out with instructions for the adult, followed by hints and safety tips. Then the author explains what tools will be needed. The recipe is written and steps clearly broken down. Following the complete recipe is a step by step picture recipe that a non reader can use! Tonight my daughter and I enjoyed the Noodle Pudding for dinner, which is apparently an unbaked noodle kugel. My daughter LOVES it, and I like it too. Another thing I have to say that I love about this book is that all the ingredients are easy to find, and healthier substiutions are easy too. I replaced (in the noodle pudding recipe) fat free cottage cheese for full fat, and the taste was still amazing. Tomorrow night my daughter will make the Quesadilla Recipe, and I can not wait! The only downside to this book is the lact of nutritional information.

5 Stars Pretend Soup
This is a fantasic book. My daugher, who is 4, is really enjoying learning to cook new meals.

5 Stars Really promotes reading for preschoolers!
Our kids love this and the other books in the series. The copy arrived quickly, and as promised. A great quality book, perfect for boys eager to help in the kitchen, and for emerging readers!

4 Stars Inspired me to want to buy an electric skillet
I was curious about the title of this book so I picked it up and gave it a run through. I have children that are almost 4 years old and I come from a family that has had a long love affair with cooking and baking. That said, I found this book inspiring and encouraging when it comes to realizing that children as young as mine can really be involved in the actual cooking and baking process.

The book is really well made, and it comes with an assortment of simple recipes that are written in 2 ways: traditional directions for the adult to follow and simple directions created in picture form for the little ones not able to read yet. I thought it was a cute concept that includes the children in all facets of the cooking experience, from recipe to creation. But because there are two sets of directions for every ONE dish in this book, the book doesn’t really have a lot of recipes. This book is more about layout than contents.

The recipes in this book are meant to be delicious AND nutritious (and inexpensive as a bonus), as most of them incorporate fruits and/or veggies, and they are all relatively simple to whip up, as this book wants caregivers and children to revel in the “experience” more than the dish itself.

As for the “experience,” this book does a fine job of encouraging and suggesting ways (or things) that can make cooking in the kitchen a fun, educational, and enjoyable time for all. This is an actual COOKbook for preschoolers, too, as in some recipes need you to use heat to cook with, something you don’t find too often for kids this age. In fact, most of these recipes are ideally meant for those who have an electric skillet, as this can allow the kids to feel like they are really cooking, and allows the adult more control over the hot surfaces. Of course, the recipes can be made from the stove and oven, but as I mentioned before, this cookbook encourages “experience” over everything else.

This cookbook also recommends that adults approach the cooking experience with preschoolers with lots of time, cleaning supplies, and patience, as children this age are very awkward and unsure of the process. Speaking with experience, I wholeheartedly agree. They give you some tips on how keep mess to a minimum, but you’d be suprised at what kids are capable of.