cover image Pancakes! An Interactive Recipe Book

Pancakes! An Interactive Recipe Book

Illus. by Lotta Nieminen. Phaidon, $14.95 (16p) ISBN 978-0-7148-7283-4

This cleverly designed first book in the Cook in a Book series lets children help make pancakes, but there’s no need to break out the aprons: all the “cooking” is accomplished by pulling tabs (to fill a measuring cup with milk), turning wheels (to whisk ingredients), and flipping cardboard pancakes “when the tops begin to bubble.” Step-by-step instructions clearly guide readers through the recipe, and the overhead perspective in several of Nieminen’s crisply illustrated scenes helps create the sense that children are standing over bowls and burners. Parents will want to have the ingredients on hand to make actual pancakes after finishing this nifty exercise in breakfast-making. Ages 2–4. (Oct.)