Member Reviews
I really loved the layout of this book, and the pages teaching how to prepare different foods and what different terms mean. I think this is a great book for kids wanting to explore cooking more. My one complaint is that the scribbled out "How to" with "Kids" above it makes it seem like the title should be "Kids cook everything" instead of "how to cook everything kids" but the actual book content is great.
What a fun cookbook! The layout, colors, and photos are happy and bright. The intro section is called "Make Friends With Your Kitchen," and it has lots of great background. I especially loved the pages that showed how to prep a bunch of different kinds of fruit and veggies. Another couple of pages give great explanation on how the recipes work, explaining the different areas of the pages.
The recipes are in chapters on Breakfast Any Time, Flavor Bursts (sauces, diups, drizzles, etc.), Hold On (things to eat with your hands), Sips and Spoonfuls (Soups), Edible Colors (veggies), Pasta and Noodles, Grains and Beans, The Big Stuff (protein mains), Now Bake Something (breads, muffins, biscuits, and pizzas), and Sweets.
Each recipe has a photo, and many have suggestions of things to eat with them, variations, flavorings or topping suggestions, and "Did You Know" tips. There are colorful drawings and pictures of kids cooking throughout, and a few pages at the back of the book tell who the kids are.
This is a great book for older elementary kids and beyond, including adults who are looking to learn how to cook. Some of the recipes might be more to adult tastes, also.
Marc Bittman's cookbooks are legendary, and I was very excited to see a cookbook for kids. This is a great resource for meals kids will eat and that they can cook independently. It also goes into pantry staples, what a cookbook means when it refers to (e.g. oil, or pepper, or flour). The book includes most popular American meal staples, but does reference using scrambled eggs to create a noodle that can be added to stir fry.
I highly recommend this book for libraries and gifts. I plan to buy a copy for my nieces and nephew who all love to cook.
How To Cook Everything Kids is the 9th cookbook in the How To Cook Everything series by Mark Bittman. Released 15th Oct 2024 by Wm. Morrow on their Harvest imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is an impressively accessible, kid friendly, appealing book full of appetizing healthy recipes, many of which kids can make with minimal adult supervision (depending on the kid of course). The graphics are cool and vibrant, and the photography is crisp and in color.
It's a comprehensive, encyclopedic collection with a nice selection of recipes. They're arranged thematically: an introduction/primer gives an overview over equipment and processes, then the recipes follow by chapter - breakfast, sauces/sprinkles/drizzles, hand held sandwiches, soups, salads and sides, pasta/noodles, grains & beans, main dishes, baked goods, and desserts.
Recipes are written with an introduction & description, ingredients in a bullet list, followed by step-by-step cooking directions. The language is simple but complete and readers will have no trouble following. Recipe ingredients are provided with imperial (American) measurements only, no metric units. Nearly all the recipes are accompanied by one or more color photos and tutorials.
The action shots and prep photos throughout the book are modeled by kids, which is a cool touch and adds a lot to the book.
Five stars. One of the better kids' cooking books. It would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition or home use.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
My kids are still you young but they always enjoy helping me in the kitchen to the best of their abilities. I am always on the lookout for kids cookbooks and enjoy flipping through them to see if there’s anything we can try. This cookbook was full of good recipe ideas for kids and I liked the variety. Most of these are still for kids older than mine, but I’ll need to keep them on hand as they grow up. I do wish that there were more pictures of the finished recipes and less illustrations. The illustrations might be good for kids, but I always like seeing what I’m making. Overall this is a good kids cookbook to help kids get interested in the kitchen.
I received a copy of this eBook from NetGalley for a honest review.
What a great cookbook to introduce kids to cooking! By making things about what they like and how easy it is to make those things with great pictures and fun graphics this cookbook will inspire many cooks not just the kids.
What a great kids’ cookbook! The illustrations are fabulous, and I really appreciated how the author talks about healthy ingredients right from the start. There’s also a nice section before the recipes that covers the basics, like kitchen utensils, pantry staples, and cooking techniques—it’s all laid out clearly.
The recipe instructions are super detailed but still easy enough for kids to follow without getting overwhelmed. Plus, the recipes themselves are a great mix—nothing too simple or too out there—just good, family-friendly meals that most people would enjoy.
I read the e-book, but I’m definitely grabbing a physical copy when it’s released. This is one I’ll want to keep handy in the kitchen!
This wasn’t bad but my children didn’t enjoy it and weren’t pulled in by it but this was still a very solid book!
What a fun cookbook! A good introduction to a wide range of cooking techniques and dishes. Though it’s clearly oriented towards kids, it would be good for anyone just leaning to cook. Lots of very basic recipes, as well as ones that stretch your skills a bit. Many of the recipes are ones that most kids will be familiar with. No better way to,get kids to stretch there palate than to get them cooking their own food. Fun illustrations too.
Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything (Kids Edition) is one of the best kids' cookbooks I’ve found! The recipes are easy to follow, with plenty of photos and graphics that make the instructions clear and engaging for young cooks.
I learned to cook as a young adult using Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and I'm excited for the kids version!
My 8-year-old is really enjoying cooking from this book. She can read and understand the recipes on her own, and she’s able to make most of them with minimal help. She also really likes the variety of recipes offered, and unlike many kids cookbooks, they are foods everyone in the family enjoys.
The book also clearly marks where adults might need to step in for younger kids, which she likes, because she can feel like she's the manager of the recipe, and I'm assisting her rather than taking over.
I highly recommend this cookbook for kids aged 8 and up who want to have fun while learning to cook!
"Kids Cook Everything" is a fantastic cookbook that focuses on simple, tasty recipes and kitchen skills to help kids get hands-on with food! 🍳🥕 It’s packed with fun sections like:
✨ Make Friends with Your Kitchen (get to know your utensils and ingredients)
🍳 Breakfast Any Time
💥 Flavor Bursts (sauces, dips, drizzles, and sprinkles)
🥪 Hold On! (sandwiches, tacos, burritos, and snacks)
🥣 Sips and Spoonfuls (soups)
🌈 Edible Colors (tons of veggies)
🍝 Pasta and Noodles
🌾 Grains and Beans
🍖 The Big Stuff (cooking with meats)
🍞 Now Bake Something (breads, muffins, biscuits, pizza)
🍰 Sweets
This book is perfect for kids aged 7+, and I had such a blast reading and exploring the recipes with my daughter! The illustrations are super cute and the recipes are easy to understand. Mark Bittman does an amazing job explaining the “whys” and “hows” in a way that’s engaging and fun. Each recipe comes with helpful notes, serving sizes, prep time, skill level, ingredients, and step-by-step directions with a picture. Some even have cool “Did you know?” facts, serving suggestions, and variations to try out!
The instructions are clear, personable, and the different difficulty levels make it great for young cooks to dive in at their own pace. My only wish is that it included nutritional info and photos for every dish. But overall, it’s a 4.5/5 for me! 🌟
Big thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow/Harvest for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
How to Cook Everything Kids is a great cookbook for children curious about cooking or interested in learning how to cook and/or even just help out in the kitchen. There are great visual aids to show step by step how to cut certain things, for example. This cookbook is very well organized into various sections, and full of recipes that are both practical in helping to build strong foundational skills, and in enticing children to want to make them in the first place!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Such a fun and well written book! Simple and delicious recipes that kids will love and the instructions are really easy to follow! Great for kids of all ages!
This is really a guide for how adults can help their children get confident in the kitchen. It would work well with very young children. Older kids can possibly navigate the book themselves. The recipes are kid friendly and the layout is nice. I like that there are options and variations so kids can choose what version of a meal feels right to them.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I will purchase for my library.
First of all, I was taken back at the title: “How to Cook Everything Kids”. With no punctuation, it sounds like a cookbook made for cannibals. So “Kids Cook Everything” is much better.
As for cooking, this book contains a lot of detailed information about inspecting the kitchen cabinets to discover the tools available as well as food pantry supplies. Then there’s drawings of how to properly cut food so as not to cut themselves. But all this info is done with a few cartoon-styled characters and drawings that makes it easy to read as well as absorb this material. I didn’t get to read the entire book since at page 38 or so, the ebook went right back to the beginning,
Even though there was no mention of different food options depending on allergies, etc., I recommend this book as a good reference guide that kids will return to often.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harvest for this ARC. I have followed Mark Bittman for decades and I know his cookbooks never fail to satisfy my interest in cooking. I particularly liked this specific audience, for kids. I think it's never too early to get kids interested and skilled at cooking and I found this book to be an excellent primer. The writing is focused on the many areas that are important, such as safety, necessary equipment, basic skills, etc. I love the illustrations that will provide additional interest in looking at the book and for informational purposes. The variety of recipes provides something for everyone and they are offered in a spectrum of skill levels. I think this would be a great addition to anyone who is introducing a child to cooking, or helping them advance their skills in the kitchen! I am excited about purchasing the hardcover copy when it comes out in October!
This well thought out cookbook goes beyond recipes, taking deep dives into food preparation, kitchen tools and gadgets, and contemplation of what sort of foods your budding chef would be happiest making. This is not a cookbook for the casually interested, short attention span kiddo.
Having said that, this comprehensive cookbook houses a lot of recipes for all sort of meals and snacks. And they're good recipes - I could easily see this book tagging along with its owner as they grow up to adulthood and start cooking in their own kitchens.
The food photography is excellent, and the cartoony graphics are fun and friendly. Buy this one for an inquisitive, hungry, young bookworm.
My thanks to Mark Bittman, William Morrow Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
I admit to being partial to this author and his books. Thus said, when I saw a kids version available I jumped at chance to read it. I was enthralled! Same informative content but with cute illustrations and a wonderful grasp of the necessary cooking skills. Home economics in delightful formation. Well done you!!!
This book will grow with your children, you can teach them about the utensils used in cooking, how to use a stove, oven, mixer and food processor.
If you have young children they can add and mix some of the ingredients while the adult or older children chop and cook over the stove or oven.
They will enjoy using oats to make oatmeal, granola, mush and oatmeal cookies.
This book teaches them how to organize the ingredients needed to make food, prepare it and cook it.
They will enjoy surprising their friends with guacamole, chicken chowder and chocolate chip cookies!
This book is fabulous! I love the introduction, the discussion on where food comes from, the tools section, and even "how to" pages on how to cut certain fruits and veggies. This book is fun and engaging, and I can not wait to get it as a gift for some little people in my life!