From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-This dazzling book of "photographic cooking lessons for young chefs" leaves no one wondering about appearances of food, equipment, or preparation methods. The pages are busy, but clear and unintimidating. Pure ingredients are used in the 44 recipes included and good nutrition is observed. Wilkes's My First Cookbook (Knopf, 1989) is for slightly younger readers. This newer book is for the same audience as The New Junior Cook Book (Meredith, 1989). Readers who have mastered Step-by-Step can go on to the excellent and more inclusive Fannie Farmer Junior Cook Book (Little, 1993) by Joan Scobey.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, MECopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 4-6. In an oversize photo-format similar to that of Helen Drew's
My First Baking Book (1991), this foray into the kitchen is a handsome way to help children hone their basic cooking skills. The text is occasionally awkward ("making popcorn is like magic, and it tastes good"), but the photos are outstanding, colorful, and clear, as well as thoughtfully sequenced and appealingly varied. Wilkes leads off with some cooking tips, including a note on kitchen safety (a special symbol is used in recipes when safety is a concern). Then a two-page spread pictures most (not "all" as the text claims) of the utensils needed in the recipes. Although not always "heart-smart," the recipes range from ordinary to fancy (egg salad to miniflorentines), and the ingredients for each dish are shown, a nice touch that may help novice cooks know what to look for if they help with the shopping. A picture of the finished product follows the captioned, step-by-step preparation highlights, and there's a very helpful glossary that uses photographs to demonstrate fundamental kitchen how-tos.
Stephanie Zvirin
