Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up [Hardcover]

Mollie Katzen (Author), Ann L. Henderson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 1994 | Age Range: 3 - 7 years

In this sequel to her classic Pretend Soup--considered by many to be the gold standard of children’s cookbooks--award-winning author/illustrator Mollie Katzen works her magic with 20 new, child-tested recipes including such delicacies as Counting Soup, Chewy Energy Circles, and Polka Dot Rice. Each illustrated recipe offers the child chef the opportunity to count, measure, mix, assemble, and most important, have fun. Designed as do-together projects--with the child as chef and the adult as assistant--these kitchen adventures will give children confidence in their cooking skills and inspire a life-long healthy relationship with food. With Salad People and a little time in the kitchen, budding chefs will cheer: “I like it because I made it myself!”

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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!"

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-The theme of this fine cookbook is that cooking is a many-splendored thing. The book's purpose is "to enable very young children to cook as independently as possible under the gentle guidance of an adult partner." Each of the 17 recipes appears twice, once in words and once in full-color pictures. The child is the focus here: attention is paid to physical ability, comfortable work levels, and variety of tactile experience. A long list of skills and attitudes children can gain from cooking supports the idea that the process is more important than the product. Quotes reflect the young cooks' keen observation and joyful participation. Parents' Nursery School's Kids Are Natural Cooks (Houghton, 1974) also uses natural foods and has the same intent as this title. That book is arranged by season and contains more recipes; Pretend Soup focuses more on the processes. Anyone who works or plays with young children would benefit by having both.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Tricycle Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883672066
• ISBN-13: 978-1883672065
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.6 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Cooking
  • #8 in Books > Children's Books > Children's Cookbooks

More About the Author

Mollie Katzen is a cookbook author and illustrator/designer, best known for her best-selling classics, Moosewood Cookbook (a 2007 inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame) and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Her nine other titles include a trilogy for children (Pretend Soup, Honest Pretzels, and Salad People) dubbed "the gold standard of children's cookbooks" by the New York Times. Mollie has worked as a creative consultant for plant-based recipes and menus, most notably with Harvard University Dining Services, where she has served as a consultant on vegetarian cooking since 2003. She is a popular public speaker, specializing in culinary-medical conferences (in addition to other venues), helping to educate medical professionals on the links between food choices and health and prevention. Mollie's newest book is The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 2013).

http://www.molliekatzen.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really cute... recipies are fun and yummy March 24, 2003

By Heather

Format:Hardcover

My daughter is only 3, but she participates a lot in these recipies. Lots of fun.
The names they give the foods and the pictures also make children more willing to eat the food. If you have a picky eater he/she will surely eat the creations from this book.

I appreciate that they didnt use a lot of fancy ingreadiants or get too rediculous with cutting things into shapes etc. like many kid's recipie books

The hide-and-seek muffins are awsome! they taste like shortcake w/ the strawberry baked right in!

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Food for the Pre-Schooler's Soul!!! August 3, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

What a find! Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson have compiled a delicious assortment of fun-to-make recipes for kids. My daughter was THRILLED to be able to make and serve Blueberry Pancakes for Sunday breakfast. The experience was a terrific boost for her. You could virtually see her self-esteem growing as she presented her culinary masterpiece to us. She also made chocolate-banana shakes for dessert last night. The recipes are so well illustrated that she is able (at 4 and a half years old) to verify that she has included all of the ingredients. She is eagerly anticipating her next cooking adventure. I tip my chef's hat to the authors for combining real food with recipes that are truly suited for kids. Does anyone know if the Culinary Institute of America offers scholarships? I think she's ready!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun for parents and children! April 4, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

"Pretend Soup" is thoughtfully written, beautifully illustrated, and a great introduction to cooking for small children. Each recipe has detailed instructions for the grown-up helper, followed by a two-page children's recipe -- step-by-step pictures and simple word instructions.
Unlike some other children's cookbooks, the recipes are all "real", healthful foods (Pretend Soup is a real recipe for a fruit salad in a yogurt/orange juice "soup").
This has become one of my standard gifts for the 4-6 year old birthday party circuit.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Yummy family cooking time January 21, 2007

By Armchair Interviews

Format:Hardcover

Mollie Katzen is well known in the food world for her involvement with the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York. She has been creating recipes and writing vegetarian cookbooks for adults for many years. However, until she witnessed her son's preschool class making applesauce one day, she didn't think her three-year-old would have an interest in preparing food.

When she talked to his teacher, Ann Henderson, she discovered that the class cooked weekly. Something clicked during this conversation and she remembered her "play cooking" as a child, with her mother's old bowls in the backyard.

Several years later, Mollie and Ann teamed up to write a cookbook for parents and their preschoolers to use to experience the fun of early cooking at home.

Because this unique cookbook is designed for both adults and preschoolers, it does not follow traditional cookbook layout. First, the recipe is written traditionally for the adults to go through. Next, the recipe is written in a pictorial version for the kids to use. The authors also give tips to make these more fun and safe for the children. Ideas such as colored tape on the handle of the butter (or plastic) knife to teach them which end to hold, and creating a cooking station at the kitchen table where it is safer for the kids to reach using an electric skillet. Each recipe is presented in a colorful way, with ideas on how to introduce young and picky eaters to try new foods.

Recipes such as popovers, green spaghetti, bagel faces and pretend soup are simple enough to not confuse young cooks, but complex enough to inspire their imaginations and leave them with good, healthy fun food to eat.... Each of these recipes has been made and taste tested by Ann's preschoolers and the book is peppered with quotes from the kids on what they thought of the foods that they made.

I'm looking forward to spending some time with the preschoolers in my life and trying out some of the fun food recipes found inside this fun little cookbook.

Armchair Interviews says: Fun time in the kitchen! Read more ›

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Oh, SALT!" January 14, 2003

By Wayward

Format:Hardcover

This was my daughters response when she found the Zucchini moons recipe. She never ate them before, but now she knows tht salt is the secret! This book has a variety of recipes that kids (and adults) will enjoy...from Bagel faces to popovers to chocolate banana shakes...in easy to follow, kid and adult friendly format.
The recipes are vegetarian with an emphasis on health, they are not, however, vegan friendly.

Oh, and a tip on the oatmeal recipe...it's ready to eat sooner if you drop a frozen cube of milk in.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Adorable! February 16, 2000

By Melanie

Format:Hardcover

This bright and engaging cookbook written and illustrated by Mollie Katzen will appeal to children of all ages, from the toddler dying to get his hands in the muffin batter to the 9-year-old just learning his way around the kitchen. Easy to follow illustrations demonstrate the recipes for the youngest "readers", while captivating cartoon characters liven the pages. Fun and delicious taste treats that were served to Mollie's panel of kiddie experts and passed the test! She's got the quotes to prove it. Adorable!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a MUST for picky eaters August 8, 2002

By W. Villanueva

Format:Hardcover

I am a mother of a 4 year old picky eater. My son would not touch any vegetables. Since purchasing the Pretend Soup, my son thinks it is a treat to read the cookbook at bedtime and decide what he wants to try the next day. The hind and seek muffins are his favorite. I am looking into buying the first book. Wonderful book, with GREAT pictures.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great cookbook for kids! January 22, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Before buying this book, my 3-year-old daughter had pretty much refused any kind of vegetable. She just didn't want to put anything remotely vegetable-like in her mouth. She got so excited when she saw the Salad Bar recipe. We immediately set to work and lo and behold...she loves it! Now when I ask her what she wants for dinner, her reply is almost always, "Salad Bar!"
Whoo hoo! Thanks Mollie Katzen and Ann L. Henderson! You've performed a miracle.