Banana Split Pizza and Other Snack Recipes

Children's Literature - Gwynne Spencer

Part of a new series, "Fun Food for Cool Cooks," these handsome titles are going to jump into the hands of kids (and grownups) because of the simple recipes, easy directions (usually one sentence per step), large print, enticing photographs of the finished food attractively presented, and a tone that says to kids, "You can DO this!" Every recipe has a star-rating from one to three to show difficulty, a list of ingredients (in small print, however), and pictures in each recipe of the tools to be used during the preparation (a first in cookbooks!). The recipes are titled enticingly and closely fit the theme of each cookbook. Each book includes Facthound.com information, a glossary, an index, a quick bio of the author, a few books to lead kids into more reading, and a standard picture book trim size that will draw in older readers as well as the targeted age group (elementary) because of the photos. In this snack treasury you will find recipes for "Banana Split Pizza" (cream cheese, bananas, strawberries, brownie crust), "Stained Glass Cookies," "Nut Really Fries" (just looks like fries), "Sweet Sand" (little umbrellas, gummy fish, pudding), "Fun Pizza Fondue" (even a suggestion to use a crock pot if you do not have a fondue pot), "Kid Salad" (shaped like a kid), "Pond Scum"( green Jello with gummy fish and gummy bugs served in a goldfish bowl), "Indoor S'Mores," "Banana Dogs" (in a hot dog bun), and "Berry Yummy Dip." Every recipe also includes a sidebar of "tasty tips" to add variations, some nice little trivia tidbit kids will like, or cooking tips (history of the banana split, invention of Life Savers, how to "fold your food," how to hard boil an egg, the kinds of berries). The"Kitchen Safety" section at the front of each book is conversational and sensible and encourages kids to actually DO things. Unlike many cookbooks, it advises kids to have a First Aid kit in the kitchen too. The front page features a kid photo alongside metric conversions (does anybody ever USE these, I wonder?). These are among the most attractive cookbooks for kids I have seen and would be appropriate for elementary, middle, and early high school readers with nary a complaint from a kid. Reviewer: Gwynne Spencer