Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!: The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids [Spiral-bound]

Evan Jones (Author), Judith Jones (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Making bread is fun--even more so when children participate. And when your guides are two of the luminaries in the world of food, you are sure to turn out splendid breads every time. Knead It, Punch It, Bake It! offers more than forty recipes for grown-ups and kids to work together, from French bread to peanut butter muffins to pizza. The text is fully illustrated with step-by-step line drawings. Recipes include: San Francisco Sourdough Bread, Pear Bread, Baked Doughnuts, Pita Bread, Sticky Buns, Buttermilk Pancakes, Flowerpot Bread, Hot Cross Buns, Oatmeal Bread, Blueberry Orange Bread, Dinner Rolls, Focaccia, Popovers, Sculptured Bread, Bagels, Pretzels.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Knead It, Punch It, Bake It! is the perfect introduction to bread baking for kids of all ages. Judith and Evan Jones first wrote this book in 1981. When they updated it in 1998, they added illustrations as well as fresh new recipes.

The writing bursts with the sounds and smells of bread, so you make French bread that is a "chewy, deliciously crackly loaf." Once you and any young assistants have mastered this recipe, and the basic White Bread, Sourdough, Piazza and Focaccia, you can move on to more unusual choices. There are cornmeal hoe cakes to make in a skillet, doughnuts to fry, bagels to boil, and pretzels to twist. Comforting baked goodies are here, like Ginger Bread and Zucchini Bread, plus Blueberry Muffins, puffy Popovers, and gooey Sticky Buns, making this a comprehensive little volume. There are even playful projects, including Flower Pot Bread, to organize for a classroom or scout troop.

Understanding the difference between talking simply and talking down, the Joneses have written a classic that makes the adventure of baking comfortable for inexperienced adults, as well as for children. --Dana Jacobi

About the Author

Evan Jones wrote this book with his wife Judith. They also wrote "The Book of Bread" and the "L. L. Bean Fish and Game Cookbook."

Judith Jones is a senior editor at Alfred A. Knopf, where authors have included James Beard, Julia Child, Marcells Hazen, and Marion Cunningham. With her late husband, Evan Jones, she wrote The Book of Bread and the L. L. Bean Book of New England Cookery; with Angus Cameron, she wrote The L. L. Bean Fish and Game Cookbook. She lives in New York City and Greensboro, Vermont

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Spiral-bound: 144 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2nd edition (September 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395892562
• ISBN-13: 978-0395892565
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judith Jones is Senior Editor and Vice President at Alfred A. Knopf. She joined the company in 1957 as an editor working primarily on translations of French writers such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. She had worked before that for Doubleday, first in New York and then in Paris, where she was responsible for reading and recommending The Diary of Anne Frank. In addition to her literary authors, she has been particularly interested in developing a list of first-rate cookbook writers; her authors have included Julia Child (Judith published Julia's first book and was her editor ever after), Lidia Bastianich, James Beard, Marion Cunningham, Rosie Daley, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Edna Lewis, Scott Peacock, Joan Nathan, Jacques Pépin, Claudia Roden, and Nina Simonds. She is the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of two books: The Book of Bread: Knead It, Punch It, Bake It! (for children); and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L.L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook. Recently, she has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bread Baking for both Children and Adults!, January 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!: The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids (Spiral-bound)

I confess. I bought this book mainly for myself, an adult. I was "trapped" in the children's section of the book store while my children browsed the books. I found this book. I NEVER baked a loaf of bread from scratch before. I never knew the joy of kneading bread and watching it rise. I was much too intimidated to try from an adult cookbook. This was just what I needed. It is a simple, step by step book on baking all kinds of breads and rolls. I started with a great whole wheat bread recipe. Now I am trying things like my own pita bread and popovers. I love it! And sometimes I even let my children in on the fun!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous recipes, Great illustrations!, January 12, 2009

By 

Cynthia Farr-weinfeld "Cynthia" (Portland, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!: The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids (Spiral-bound)

I feel so lucky to have received a copy of this cookbook, illustrated by Mitra Modaressi (and signed by her as well!) The recipes are so wonderful and easy to follow and the two breads I have made so far in two weeks (Focaccia and Challah twice) came out like something you would buy in an artisanal bakery. I felt like an instant pro and using the cookbook is like talking with an old friend--instant comfort and happiness, looking at the sweet illustrations. I doubled the Focaccia recipe and made one the traditional way with Italian spices and the other sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for dessert, as was suggested in the book. You will not be sorry you ordered this and as another reviewer suggested, it is NOT just for children. This will become the treasure of your cookbook shelf and will often be out on the counter as you give up buying bread and take up making it every week because it is so fun!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good intro to breads and baking, November 14, 2011

By 

beekeeper - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!: The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids (Spiral-bound)

We got this when my kids turned 8. After a year or two it has become one of the first cookbooks the kids turn to when baking time comes. White bread to pretzels to French baguettes, we have had fun and success all around.