Book review: Annabel's Kitchen

I was sent an Annabel Karmel cookbook to review a couple of weeks ago by the lovely people at Random House. It's the newest in her extensive series (you might remember I went to the launch of the Top 100 Pasta Dishes last year, which turned out to be a really useful compendium of family recipes).

Annabel's Kitchen: My first cookbook ties in with a TV series of the same name, currently running on ITV. We aren't big TV watchers, so I must confess we've not seen the programme - and to be honest, I'm not sure the book works very well without it. Out of context, it's all a bit over-the-top 1980s zany, with some very stagy photographs, whereas it might make a bit more sense if you'd seen what went on in the studio.

The idea's great - "discover the importance of food and its ingredients" - and as a cookbook for kids, the recipes are nice enough, but the emphasis on turning your food into animals, faces or whatever does pall after a while. I might be turning into a grumpy middle-aged lady, but food's far too important to mess about with. The pig melon (p72) has to be seen to be believed (although anything that gets fruit/vegetables into small children should be applauded, I suppose, and if you were making it as a one-off for a party, it might be worth it).

But for me, it doesn't hit the spot. The book's not simple enough for the age group targeted by the programme to read/engage with/use - there's a lot of recipes, a lot of small text if you've got a just-starting-to-read small person, and not quite enough step-by-step pictures. If you're a bit older, you'll probably be turned off by all the penguin shenanigans (and anyway, should really be using the bible of children's cookbooks, the River Cottage Family Cookbook).

Sorry Annabel. Better luck next time, in this household at least.

Books, books and more books: food for kids

I got sent a cookbook from the nice people at Little Dish the other day. I have to confess, I'd not heard about them before, probably because (a) M has long since left the days of toddlerdom behind at the grand old age of almost 5 and (b) I've never really gone down the route of ready meals, either for children or grown ups (although fruit purees have been a good lunchbox standby for a long time).

But I'm very glad they did send me the book - the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook - because it's one of the best children's cookbooks I've read for a while. It's that rare beast - a cookbook that has

• recipes aimed at kids, which the whole family will enjoy

• recipes that kids can help to make, that aren't just fairy cakes or chocolate cornflakes

The book doesn't have huge numbers of recipes - there's just over 60 - but the ones it does have are simple and easy to understand. Most importantly of all, they're the sort of easy, comforting food that it's a pleasure to make at the end of a long day of chasing about. There's some nice purees and things for early eaters, although if you want an enormous range of combinations you really need the guru herself, Annabel Karmel.

But then there's a whole section on family food - and here's where it scores really highly with me. I'm passionate about the whole family eating together (we do this every day with M - although I realise that we have it fairly easy just dealing with one child, rather than two or more). There's everything from staple Italian favourites like lasagne or meatballs, to some good vegetarian ideas like green pie. I like the way that each recipe tells you how many children/adults/family members it serves - and a lot of the recipes are easy enough that you can really get kids involved in cooking them.

The design's good - although I suspect that some people will find the lack of pictures of the food disconcerting (it doesn't bother me, but then I cook a lot, and have a fair idea of what things should look like at each stage). I do like the fact that it's a very user-friendly book - as well as a decent index, there's a great recipe planner at the back, which divides dishes up into:

• simple, straightforward, slight degree of complexity
• make ahead
• freezes well
• child participation
• meal matchers (recipes that go well together)

All in all, it's a great book - and would make a good gift.