The Silver Spoon for Children

For over 150 years the original Cucchiaio d'argents (The Silver Spoon) has ben the world-renowned title for Italian cooking. Building on this success, The Silver Spoon for Children features a selection of Italian recipes rewritten for little gourmet geniuses in the making. Often books in this area of cooking (for example, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's The River Cottage Family Cookbook)  are written for adults as a guide to teaching children how to cook. This books approach involves having a child read it, and then prepare the recipes with the aid of an adult. By simplifying their essence and using large pictures and bright colours to grab attention, this book is one that has a great chance in engaging young minds. 

Aimed at children at least nine years old, the recipes have been tested by children so parents can be reasonably confident that the recipes will work. Each recipe is set out over two pages. There is a photo of the final dish, a list of ingredients, and a box with a few comments on the dish. The method is set out in point form going from left to right across the pages. Each instruction is numbered and accompanied by an illustration. Every page is very colourful and all the words are in larger than normal font size. 

The book is a very good starting point for adults that want to introduce their children to cooking. The recipes are challenging enough to keep children interested, and with enough allowance for margin of error if things go a little astray in the preparation. The variety of recipes ensures that children will learn about a variety of foods and techniques, and that the book can be used at any time of the year. 

The use of drawings and bright colours not only encourages a sense of fun in cooking, but will tempt children to re-read the book. Each recipe also states the time it should take to make, so that adults know how much time to set aside to make the activity worthwhile. Finally, the information on how to cook safely is kept simple. There is no overload of information to confuse young minds.

While the book is aimed at parents who want to involve their children with cooking, I think that adults who want to learn how to cook will also find this book worthwhile. There are also enough quick and simple recipes that parents might find themselves using this book on a regular basis.