Superfoods: For Babies and Children [Hardcover]

Annabel Karmel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2006

Boost your baby’s health with Annabel Karmel’s delicious recipes and creative advice for feeding your child in the first five years.

All parents want the best for their children, but choosing the freshest foods and preparing them in the most beneficial and appealing ways is not always easy. As a mother of three and author of more than twenty books on healthy food for children, Annabel Karmel knows better than anyone not only what children should eat but what children will eat.

SuperFoods is both a cookbook and a reference manual that helps parents recognize the nutritional value in even the simplest foods. In addition to a variety of tempting recipes and invaluable advice, SuperFoods includes:

- More than 130 easy recipes suitable for children of all ages—from the best first foods to balanced family meals.

- Menu charts to help you plan ahead—most recipes are suitable for freezing.

- Information on how to avoid food allergies and common childhood complaints such as colic, constipation, and eczema.

- Suggestions for healthy convenience foods to keep in the pantry.

- Tasty recipes that harness the power of SuperFoods to promote growth and energy and boost immunity and brain power.

And much, much more!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British bestseller Karmel (The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner) has made a name for herself cooking meals for kids that any devoted parent could admire, packing each breakfast, lunch and dinner with healthy, nicely presented, delicious foods. Now she and nutritionist Sacher make baby and child fare even healthier by adding more of the brightly colored, antioxidant-rich, disease-fighting fruits and vegetables they call superfoods to every recipe. Broccoli, tomatoes, blueberries and carrots (among many others) find their way into tempting purees for little ones and into dishes like Tiny Pasta with Gruyère, Spinach and Sweetcorn for older children (the book is divided into sections by age group). Karmel grates vegetables into spaghetti sauce for Baby's Bolognese and apples into Finger-Picking Chicken Balls; she whirls several fruits at a time into smoothies and ice pops; and provides good ideas for age-appropriate snacks. She clearly explains nutritional information in the introduction and in sidebars on every page, and includes menu planners for each stage. Karmel's tone throughout is positive and, in urging kids to try new tastes, adventurous. And though some of the recipes require more than a dozen ingredients, most are worth it. (June 6)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

  Annabel Karmel is the mother of three children, a bestselling author of over twenty books on nutrition and cooking for babies and toddlers, and the UK's leading expert on feeding children. She is the food writer for Scholastic Parent and Child magazine, and works with leading US parenting websites like Family.com, Sesame Street, and Baby Center. Annabel has also appeared on many TV programs, including the Today Show, The CBS Early Show and The View. Please visit her website at www.annabelkarmel.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (June 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743275225
• ISBN-13: 978-0743275224
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Annabel Karmel is the international best-selling author on baby and
children's food and nutrition and champions the cornerstone message that creating a healthy diet for your children is crucial to their healthy development

A mother of three children, Annabel was inspired to write children's cookbooks following the death of her first child Natasha. Although the illness was not diet related, Annabel was determined to give her second child the best possible start, seeking out only the healthiest foods. Annabel spent two years researching child nutrition and development and interviewing leading UK pediatricians and child nutritionists. She realized that no one had really explored the truth about what babies should and could eat and naturally started creating recipes herself that were both delicious and healthy. She is (resolute) passionate about helping parents provide their babies with fresh food and providing solutions for busy mums who want to feed their family a healthy meal.

With her imaginative approach to creating healthy and delicious food, Annabel is the expert in getting your child, no matter how fussy, to eat a healthier diet ' without them even noticing! She makes it easy to prepare fresh baby food and has developed (tricks) ways to improve children's nutrition on a daily basis, from hiding vegetables in other foods, packing powerhouse lunchboxes and creating healthy junk food . All the recipes are tested on children after all if it doesn't taste good they wont eat it'


Annabel has written 16 books. Her first book the Healthy Baby Meal Planner was published in the US in 1991 by Simon and Schuster and has become the authoritative guide on feeding babies and children. Her best-selling books in the US also include First Meals, Lunchboxes, 100 Top Baby Purees, Favorite Family Meals, The Mom and Me Cookbook. Impressively, every single recipe has been conceived and cooked in Annabel's own kitchen.

A household name in the UK has enabled Annabel to develop ranges for feeding babies and toddlers, food preparation equipment, children's food, baking and party ware. Her recipes are so popular that UK supermarkets now stock a range of her meals. (Annabel is currently working with US manufacturers to launch innovative product ranges for the US market) no not yet

With books sales of over 3 million worldwide, this is likely to grow fast as four new books are being published in the US this year including Baby's first Year Album, The Toddler Cookbook ,Baby and Toddler Food Diary and the Fussy Eaters Recipe Book

Annabel travels frequently to the US and has appeared on many TV programmes including the Today Show, Regis and Kelly, the View, (Rosie O'Donnell Show) NO, ABC Eyewitness News, CBS Early Show and also writes for national US newspapers and magazines including Child Magazine, New York Daily News, American Baby, Working Mother, Quick and Simple and Parents.


In June 2006, Annabel was awarded an MBE, Member of the British Empire, by the Queen in her Birthday Honours List for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition.

Her popular web-site www.annabelkarmel.com is the number one site on child nutrition with lots of advice, delicious recipes and social networking. She has also launched the most comprehensive and informative online TV channel on family nutrition, with recipe videos, Top Tips and interviews with leading experts. Visit www.annabelkarmel.tv

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring!, June 19, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superfoods: For Babies and Children (Hardcover)

I don't know about you, but peanut butter sandwiches meal after meal, with an occasional dose of macaroni and cheese, just doesn't float my boat. How do the kids stand it? And is there anything that we can do to get them out of the chicken nuggets rut?

Let me hear a chorus of a resounding "YES!"

Enter SuperFoods for Babies and Children, a cookbook that gives more than kid-friendly recipes--it gives hope, encouragement and direction. Annabel Karmel (with a last name like Karmel you know a cookbook has to be good) breaks her book into age-appropriate food selection and introduction and the recipes to make it happen.

By the time the children turn three, they have been introduced to a wide variety of foods that even tempt an adult pallet. As if this isn't enough, every page has a sidebar that gives nutritional information nuggets like: "Raspberries contain ellagic acid, which can help protect us against cancer," next to the recipe that will make our kids eat them. She also has a key that indicates whether a recipe can be frozen, or is suitable for vegetarian.

SuperFoods for Babies and Children inspired me to try just a little harder to get my family to eat better. She gives such good, realistic information and tempting meal ideas that even this mother, who has fought the food battle for years, is ready to go the rounds again. And you know what? Yesterday's trip to the store yielded a cartful of produce that the kiddos happily munched all afternoon. That gets my two thumbs up.

Armchair Interviews says: An inspiring and fun cookbook for all ages.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lifesaver, May 1, 2007

By 

Melanie "mmartind" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superfoods: For Babies and Children (Hardcover)

With my first child I bought the usual baby food in jars and watched her make horrified faces when I put food into her mouth (except fruit of course) I didn't know a book like this existed. These recipes are absolutely fabulous! My second child loves everything I give her from this book. She hasn't refused anything yet - not even spinach with mushrooms and potato. Some of the recipes do require a bit of cooking, but usually nothing over 10-20 minutes and then I have enough for the rest of the month. She has been introduced to so many healthy nutritious foods that I couldn't otherwise give her because they don't come in jars. Easy, delicious - and the books has recipes for toddlers and older kids too.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST cookbook!, August 31, 2006

By 

Robin Kuppusamy "Love to Shop" (Akron, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superfoods: For Babies and Children (Hardcover)

I love this cookbook!

It starts out with purees and moves up to small bites and eventually to full fledge meals. Every recipe is healthy and tasty! You won't find boring bland foods here! She has curry recipes, thai curry, chicken and rice. And, she even has recipes for the vegetarian eater.

It seems she has a recipe for what I usually cook anyway. But, hers have less spice. My husband is from India so curries and rice dishes are the norm. But, with all the complex spices my son has a rough time of it. He has no problem with these. He just gulps them down.

He's six months old and eating avacados. I would have never tried this before. I don't know why, just wouldn't have thought about it. I think other recipes, like the mini vegetable burgers would be great for the young eater too. Because they are soft enough to chew. You just have to watch and cut in small pieces.

I would recommend this to everyone!