Reading Recipes

 

We have a little shelf in the kitchen where we have always kept a few kids cookbooks and some favorite foodie-fiction (green eggs anyone?). Oh, and our gardening book (see here and here) is at home here too, in case we need some "fruit of the earth" ideas.

Jack has taken to pulling out his cookbooks, Pretend Soup and Salad People when hungry and "reading" through the recipes. These cookbooks actually make great early reading books. The picture cues give just enough (but not too much) info; there are words that repeat throughout like stir, cup, and mix; and each recipe ends with a hearty "EAT!" which Jack loves to exclaim. They're tasty too, and totally do-able for can-do kids.

   

Yesterday at lunch time, Jack pulled one out and decided to make "Bagel Faces." And (with a little set up), he got to work, made it himself, and nibbled a ton of veggies while creating his Bagel Guy.

 

Of course, he ate every last bite.

 

Later, he went back to his book and chose a recipe for dinner, Tiny Tacos. Same deal: I just did a little set up and he assembled the rest himself. Another recipe read, another meal cooked, another clean plate.

I never thought of it before, but cookbooks make such reinforcing reading. Kids are deliciously rewarded for their reading efforts. What a great way to make the connection between reading, and learning, and doing. And hey, maybe someday Jack will be cooking for me. (I wonder if he's ready to tackle Thanksgiving dinner yet? Wishful thinking!) 

Are your kids fond of reading anything unexpected?

Comments

[Abbie]

We love the book Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots.

The author has a blog as well!

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Lynnie]

You know, it's funny, we have just piles of books everywhere, but almost no kids cookbooks. That's a great idea for Christmas! I can see how much your son gets out of it! My daughter does like reading the grocery insert to the newspaper, though! It's usually pretty obvious with a picture of a food item and just the one word!

[crazedparent]

love the photos. we have those same books - my boys love, love, love to cook (and pretend cook). the mollie katzen children cookbooks are amazing and wonderful. my oldest son read them for years before he even attempted to make the recipes. now i'm going to have to pull out those photos to reminisce!

[rebecca]

fantastic blog! I love how you capture the beauty and excitement of a child discovering the power and potential of literacy. I post about similar ideas over at www.eensies.com, hope you'll check it out.

[Jenni]

I love those Mollie Katzen books, too. My daughter (5) loves to read and cook from them. Her favorite part is "The Critics Rave"--she almost likes reading what other kids say more than cooking. Almost.

Thanks for commenting on my blog today. What a lovely blog you have--I'm glad to know about you. Good luck on your writing (and car cleaning!).