The best cookbooks for kids

These books will inspire children to get into the kitchen and cook, all curated by the Dineread review team.

Mollie Katzen’s “The Moosewood Cookbook”

Ms. Katzen’s goal was to empower young children to take the lead in the kitchen with limited guidance from adults. Throughout her three books, wholesome recipes with creative names like Salad People, Polka Dot Rice, and Tiny Tacos share the pages with more sophisticated numbers, like cucumber soup, focaccia and mango-honey lassi. Each recipe is accompanied by simple, colorful step-by-step illustrations that make it easy for even the youngest cooks to follow along.

Amanda Grant’s “The Silver Spoon for Children: Favorite Italian Recipes”

This cookbook features more than 40 traditional recipes like risotto and minestrone, all adapted from “The Silver Spoon,” a cookbook that appears in many Italian home kitchens. The book is written for children ages nine and up and is filled with “grown-up food” that children can cook (mostly) by themselves.

Deanna Cook’s “Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!)” and “Baking Class: 50 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Bake!”

These two books offer recipes for a wide range of ages and abilities. Spiral-bound, with glossy, easy-to-clean covers, these cookbooks are bright and colorful, with recipes that range in difficulty from very easy (mug cake, salad dressing) to more complicated (crepes, spring rolls). They are perfect for children who want a thorough introduction to the kitchen, including basic rules for safety, vocabulary, setting the table and — you’re going to love this, parents — cleaning up. They are written for children ages 8 to 12, but again, younger ones will find something for them here, too.

For more great cooking reads and eBooks, check out Dineread.