Baking-themed books are appropriate

February 13, 2009|By CATHERINE HALL

February is brimming with reasons for celebration: Valentine's Day, Black History Month, President's Day. But did you know that February is also Bake for Family Fun Month? The Home Baking Association made this month- long designation to encourage families to discover the economical and enjoyable traditions of baking. You may wish to explore the recipes and tips online at www.homebaking.org.

Now, get out the baking pans, tie on your apron and get to the library to check out one of these baking themed children's books:

Picture books

"All in Just One Cookie" by Susan Goodman (ages 4 to 9)

As Grandma adds each ingredient to the bowl to make her chocolate chip cookies, kid-friendly explanations of how those ingredients get to the kitchen are presented.

"Boom Town" by Sonia Levitin (ages 5 to 9)

Bored by cabin life in her sparse settlement, Amanda figures out how to bake a gooseberry pie in the family's crude wood stove. Soon, prospectors are paying for her pies, and her business success spills over to the other folks in town.

"The Bakery Lady" by Pat Mora (ages 3 to 7)

Monica, who wants to be a baker like her grandmother, finds the doll hidden in bread on the feast of the Three Kings and thus gets to bake cookies for the next fiesta. In English and Spanish.

"Who Made This Cake?" by Chihiro Nakagawa (ages 4 to 7)

While a boy and his parents go for an outing, little people invade the house and use their construction equipment to bake a cake.

"How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA" by Marjorie Priceman (ages 5 to 8)

A young baker sets off on a journey across the United States to gather all the things she will need to bake a cherry pie, including coal for the oven, cherries for the pie and glass for the measuring cup.

Fiction

"The Fairy Berry Bake-Off" by Daisy Alberto (ages 5 to 8)

In this easy reader, Ginger and Dulcie have a bake-off to see who is the best baking-talent fairy in Pixie Hollow.

"In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen" by Cynthia Rylant (ages 6 to 9)

In this chapter book, while staying with their aunt for a year, three 9-year-old cousins keep busy baking and selling cookies among other adventures.

"The Just Desserts Club" by Johanna Hurwitz (ages 8 to 12)

In this intermediate novel, sixth-grader Cricket finds just the right dessert to bake for school events during the year.

Nonfiction

"Loaves of Fun: A History of Bread with Activities and Recipes from Around the World" by Elizabeth Harbison (ages 6 to 12)

A collection of recipes for various kinds of breads arranged in a timeline format that charts the history of this staple food from the earliest civilization to the present day.

"Bake the Best-Ever Cookies!" by Sarah Williamson (ages 8 to 12)

This collection of 40 kid-friendly cookie recipes includes old-fashioned favorites, such as thumbprints, layer cookies and frosted, shape cookies; there are also recipes for energy bars, pretzels and low-fat and low-sugar cookies.

Catherine Hall is children's librarian with the Washington County Free Library.

|

|

|