The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World (Williamson Kids Can! Series) [Paperback]

Deanna F. Cook (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Williamson Kids Can! Series

This book is suitable for ages 4 to 8 years. A festive medley of recipes, customs, activities, games, and more, this book offers parents and educators fun-filled ways to immerse youngsters in ethnic diversity. Decorated with black-and-white illustrations and photos, the text is divided into five geographic areas: Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, and the South Pacific. Surprisingly, many of the recipes that sound intriguing, such as ox-eye eggs from Indonesia, turn out to be familiar dishes with unfamiliar names. But the foods aren't the real reason to add this to a collection. Rather, it's the selection of wonderfully creative ideas for theme parties - for example, a backyard tropical beach party - and the interesting sidebars alerting kids to kitchen safety, fun facts, and cultural clues that make the book stand out.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-In this whirlwind tour of 41 countries, readers are given a quick dose of culture from each one. There are one or two recipes (their difficulty is rated by one, two, or three spoons) for each place and an introduction to a child who lives there. Occasional riddles and "fun facts" are inserted, such as the world record for watermelon-seed spitting. Foreign words are included with pronunciations. Readers are encouraged to try home-baked tortilla chips, ginger ale made from ginger root, and peanut butter soup. The writing style is breezy and inviting, and the illustrations are a combination of black-and-white cartoons and photographs. For a more straightforward approach, try Carole Albyn and Lois Webb's The Multicultural Cookbook for Students (Oryx, 1993), which contains information and one recipe from each of 122 countries. For more complete treatments of individual countries, try the "Cooking the...Way" series (Lerner).?Carolyn K. Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6. A festive medley of recipes, customs, activities, games, and more, this book offers parents and educators fun-filled ways to immerse youngsters in ethnic diversity. Decorated with black-and-white illustrations and photos, the text is divided into five geographic areas: Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, and the South Pacific. Suprisingly, many of the recipes that sound intriguing, such as ox-eye eggs from Indonesia, turn out to be familiar dishes with unfamiliar names. But the foods aren't the real reason to add this to a collection. Rather, it's the selection of wonderfully creative ideas for theme parties--for example, a backyard tropical beach party--and the interesting sidebars alerting kids to kitchen safety, fun facts, and cultural clues that make the book stand out. Lauren Peterson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Williamson Publishing Company (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913589918
• ISBN-13: 978-0913589915
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #414,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to international food for young people., September 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World (Williamson Kids Can! Series) (Paperback)

Ms. Cook obviously put a lot of effort into this compilation of recipes and facts. She interviewed children around the world to find out about the things they eat, and pictures of some of these children are shown throughout the book. The book is divided into regions of the world by continent, and the recipes are rated for difficulty with spoons- one spoon is the easiest, and three spoons requires at least moderate adult help and supervision. Many of the foods turn out to be familiar dishes with different names (like Sherpa Popcorn and Ox-Eye Eggs), and there are ideas for theme parties (after-ski breakfast, ice cream buffet, etc.) throughout the book. I originally bought this book for my then-10-year-old sister, who was just beginning to show an interest in cooking, and now that she is 13 she still uses this book. A lot of these recipes are easy and quick enough to be used in a classroom or school cooking club. I bought a copy of this book for myself and think it is truly neat!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taste the World!, May 31, 2002

By 

David E. (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World (Williamson Kids Can! Series) (Paperback)

Many of my family's favorite foods are "ethnic" so we thought we'd dive right in and discover what else the world is eating that we haven't tried yet. Just looking through the pages makes you want to start cooking! We'll be better prepared now, to dodge the familiar "What's for dinner?" with an enthusiastic response and a taste adventure. Children of all ages can prepare most of the dishes, and there are activities and trivia from several countries represented in the book. We decided to buy it after briefly looking through a library copy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Around the world in your Kitchen, August 19, 2006

By 

N. Malcolm Peterson "Noah's Arch" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World (Williamson Kids Can! Series) (Paperback)

This is a really fun cookbook. It gives a sampling of recipes from numerous countries around the world. It is also sensitive to availabily of ingredients, nothing strange or exotic that isn't available at the local grocers. Our kids have enjoyed cooking with it and we have certainly benefited from their efforts! It's great to see them going beyond Mac and Cheese and actually learning about cooking. They are already finding it is a creative outlet, that just happens to meet the need of eating.