LOOK AND COOK BREAKFAST

Picture-perfect breakfasts.

Novice chefs ready to prepare luscious breakfasts will appreciate this handsomely designed photographic cookbook featuring 20 nutritious morning repasts. The table of contents notes that the book uses symbols designating the number of servings that each recipes makes, the time needed to carry out a step or to prepare a dish, and, crucially, when a step requires adult supervision or intervention. A minimally worded, three-part introduction lists kitchen tools such as tablespoons and cutting boards, explains pre-cooking basics such as washing hands and gathering essentials beforehand, and offers instruction on using tools and measuring and preparing ingredients. The recipes follow; children will appreciate names such as “Bear Poop” (mixed berries with granola and yogurt), “Cinnamon Snail” (muffins with swirls of cinnamon), and “Choco Pillow” (a simplified pain au chocolat–esque creation). Recipes begin with captioned pictures of equipment and quantities of ingredients, followed by numbered, wordless, step-by-step instructions, generally including visuals of final products. The directions are mostly comprehensible, though cooks may have to refer to ingredient and tool lists. As needed, variations and substitute ingredients are provided; for some dishes, Fisher suggests recipes elsewhere in the book that will go well together. The captivating images consist of photos of dollhouse “miniature sets” with racially diverse doll-size human figures. Endpapers highlight labeled photos of scrumptious fruits.

Ambitious young cooks will eat this up.