Spaghetti!: An Interactive Recipe Book

by Lotta Nieminen

Cook pasta from scratch inside this interactive recipe book – fry, simmer, boil, drain, grate and more! A simple but accurate recipe takes young readers through the steps of cooking spaghetti, from chopping onions to serving up a plate of steaming hot pasta with tomato sauce, while the interactive novelty features invite them to participate in the process ... without any chance of spilling anything. Move the tab up and down to add the onions and garlic, lift the flap to open the can of tomatoes, pull the tab to bring the water to a boil, use the punch-out fork to twist some spaghetti onto your fork to taste, and more. One hundred percent adult-free, danger-free, and mess-free – whether you are cooking outside or inside this book, spaghetti has never been so independent! Ages 2 - 4

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Cookbooks

16 pages, Board Book

Published April 26, 2023

About the author

Lotta Nieminen is a designer and illustrator from Helsinki. She studied at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki and the Rhode Island School of Design before winning the Art Directors Club Young Guns 8 award in 2010.

Reviews

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the pancakes version in the same series. There were more ways to develop fine motor control, and the twirling fork was very impressive to me.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's better than eating spaghetti? Cooking it and enjoying your own creation, and these pages invite listeners to to just that.

This is a board book for the younger readers out there and hits upon a well-loved topic—spaghetti. It begins with a display of the ingredients needed and utensils involved. These are portrayed close together with the identifying name right near by in the same color (basil's font is green, etc). Step-by-step, the reader follows the process of cooking spaghetti. The sauce is created with canned tomatoes and spices, so young readers do get a first impression of really making something from scratch.

The illustrations are simple, direct, a little blocky, and make the basic steps clear. The text is concise, easy to understand, and keeps everything clear without adding more than necessary. So, listeners do stay on track. I did find some visual moments a teensy-tiny bit jumbled (once or twice), but gathering everything together and cooking can be this way, at times.

The 'interactive' side of this book occurs in that it encourages adults to join their young listeners to create spaghetti together. It supports word recognition, encourages the skill of following directions, introduces basic cooking knowledge/skills, and leads to interactive activities and social skills. For a tiny book, it packs a punch.

I do have to add...and this made me chuckle for side reasons...there is not a warning concerning the need for an adult when cooking, cutting and such. Not that I believe it's necessary (the intended audience couldn't read that on their own, anyway). But since I do know some young readers, who are more than adventurous enough to try doing something on their own, I'll add that adults should watch out and keep an eye on those more determined readers.

After reading this, only one last phrase hits my mind: Bon Appetit!

I received a DRC, am giving this 4.5 stars and rounding up.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 5 in the Cook in a Book series features spaghetti! This interactive board book series is perfect for summer learning for your little ones! Toddlers and preschoolers LOVE to help in the kitchen, plus when they participate in the cooking or baking process they are more likely to eat the food they helped to prepare.

The first step to cooking or baking is making sure you have all the tools and ingredients you need. The first page layout introduces all the ingredients and items needed. Take your child into the kitchen and find all the items listed and soon you’ll be making your own spaghetti.

From dropping in the garlic and onions to opening a can of tomatoes to dropping in the spaghetti to grating the parmesan, each page offers an interactive feature for your child to do while learning about the next step in the spaghetti-making process. The instructions are simple and easy to understand and the colored texts help each step in the process stand out.

My favorite part was the actual cardboard fork that comes out to help stir the plate of spaghetti on the last page. How fun! Make sure you have everything on hand because your child will want to have spaghetti for your next meal!

This is an extra heavy-duty board book with nice thick pages and sturdy interactive features. Kids can learn the process in the book and then try it out for real in the kitchen.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the instructions for making spaghetti are contained in this adorable interactive cookbook. The child can interactively pour the oil into the pan, open a can of tomatoes, boil a pot of water, drop in the spaghetti, and even check to see if it's done with the included removable fork. Other pages include draining, grating cheese, and -again with the pop-out fork- twirling the spaghetti and pretending to eat it.

Spaghetti is so cute! AJ has been playing with it all afternoon. She did all the "fun stuff" (her words). We even made spaghetti ourselves using the directions given in the book (and adhering to the warning about hot oil and hot water) and it was delicious. Perfectly appropriate directions for a child to understand - lots of pictures of the ingredients, and AJ was excited to get a grown-up to help her cook. Highly recommended, but in a library, that removable fork is going to get lost.

cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a little confused as to who is the target audience for this book. The complex recipe instructions pretty closely match what would be written in a typical recipe and the interactive elements for the reader require skilled hand movements, so it seems to me like this book is not meant for toddlers and infants. However, if it is meant for older readers, most older children would prefer to have a picture book rather than a board book. Obviously this book is meant to be read with an adult (and possibly used to do some cooperative cooking), but is this a book written for older readers that’s been made in a strange format or is this a book for toddlers that’s just way out of their depth?

[Allison Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3 year old daughter really enjoyed this read aloud. I think this book is so creative and is engaging for kids. I love all the moveable parts and you really could follow the directions to cook spaghetti from this book. I think this is a great idea to help young kids want to learn to cook.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute interactive book to help teach young kids to cook. Love the little interactive things.

[Jonah Reinmuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the best.

[R. L. Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a good read for the target age. It's just a recipe and has slides and flaps but my kid was not interested at all.