ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

This photo-documentary picture book follows four groups of young kids as they prepare simple meals in school classroom kitchens. Their international menus include sweet-and-sour cucumbers from China, minestrone and bread sticks from Italy, roasted veggies in fruit sauce from Morocco, and tamales from Mexico. The photos showcase a diverse group of participants, including students, parent helpers, and teachers. Each activity shing hands, measuring ingredients, food preparation techniques, and final presentation (with ample attention paid to safety precautions at every opportunity) thoughtfully and carefully laid out. Child-produced illustrations pop up occasionally, and some pictures show kids just being silly and having fun. Each section ends with the participants coming together to enjoy their efforts, sitting down to eat as they exchange regionally appropriate greetings ("Buon Appetito!" "As-salamu alaykum!"). Whether used in conjunction with school cooking units or as an introduction to dining traditions around the world, readers will come away thinking of cooking as a pleasurable and satisfying experience.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

In his trademark photo-essay format, Ancona describes and shows diverse groups of students participating in the Cooking with Kids program in schools around Santa Fe, New Mexico. The vivid, close-up color photos depict the kids' active engagement in preparing (with adult assistance) and eating complicated dishes from Morocco, China, Italy, and Mexico; occasional child-drawn spot art is also included. Recipes available online.

Kirkus Reviews

Kids all over are eating foods from different countries, as people from various cultures settle everywhere.In Santa Fe schools, children experience global cooking with healthy ingredients thanks to the organization Cooking with Kids. Visiting chefs teach kids dicing, cutting, chopping (with butter knives), measuring, stirring, using a mortar and pestle, and mixing. The students learn about grains, vegetables, and spices used in international cuisines. The adults handle the stove and oven tasks. In his latest photo essay, Ancona features diverse kids and adults as they prepare Moroccan root vegetables with a cilantro-based sauce called chermoula and minted orange pieces, Chinese-American fried rice with sweet and sour cucumbers, Italian minestrone soup with homemade breadsticks, and Mexican salsa, tortillas, and tamales. (Readers tantalized by these descriptions will find recipes on the publisher's website.) Each page has a slightly different layout, and children's crayon drawings are also incorporated. Everyone gets a chance to taste the finished products, learning expressions such as "Chi fàn luo" ("Good eating" in Chinese) and "Buen provecho" ("Have a good meal" in Spanish). Teachers or librarians can gather program ideas such as using a globe to indicate a recipe's origins (although there is no map) or reading a story to introduce a recipe. Kids will sense the excitement that accompanies these classes and clamor for cooking lessons.Spice up school, library, or home cooking projects with this beginning guide to the fun of cooking. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

School Library Journal (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

PreS-Gr 1 Ancona's latest photographic essay depicts students in classes at Santa Fe's Cooking with Kids programs as they prepare five international recipes. More about the cooking process than the food itself or countries of origin, the images show diverse groups of children measuring spices, chopping vegetables, mixing ingredients, and, eventually, eating their delicious dishes together. Drawings created by the children to reflect their experience are also scattered throughout the book. The text narrates each step in the process, referring to the children and teachers by name as sections are matched with photos. Teachers do the actual cooking, though it is mostly left out of the images. Recipes range from Moroccan-spiced root vegetables with chermoula and minted oranges to Mexican vegetable tamales. Each recipe ends with a phrase in italics from a language in that country (e.g., the Arabic phrase "As-salamu alaykum" ends the Moroccan recipe's section). The text, written in third person, present tense, is accessible and engaging, drawing readers into the classroom kitchen with the students and teachers. Photos vary in number and size, sometimes verging on too many and cluttering the layout. Though some supplementary materials are available at the publisher's website, the lack of back matter (especially recipes) results in more of a flavor of international cuisine than a deep dive. Those looking for recipes should instead try Stewart and Engel's What's On Your Plate?: Exploring the World of Food . VERDICT The book's content seems narrower in scope than the title suggests but it's still a nice beginner's bridge into cooking activities for those with curious taste buds. Alec Chunn, Eugene Public Library, OR