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Rigatoni is a pasta cat. He loves pasta, any kind of pasta: spaghetti, penne, fusilli, with pesto, in soup, in lasagne, any whichever way his owners, Ruth and Tina, will serve it. Then one day Ruth and Tina go away and leave George in charge. And the pasta is replaced with yucky cat food. Can Rigatoni find someone who understands what he really wants to eat?
This is the second collaboration between Rosen and Starling, following the brilliant I Am Angry. Both take a poem from the award winning A Great Big Cuddle to give it new life as a picturebook and each poem really lends itself to a longer format with more opportunity for an illustrator to tell the story behind the poem and breathe life into the narrator. The bold colours and hugely expressive characters really grab the young reader’s attention, and the words are, of course, a joy to read-aloud. In an introduction the author tells us that when he is hungry, he likes to imagine all the things he might want to eat, and that often quite strange things pop into his mind and suggests this as an imaginative game to try at home. Certainly, this is what our very, very, hungry Squirrel does as his suggestions of what he could eat get increasingly bizarre. Young children delight in the absurd and have no fear of non-conformity and they also will recognise the feeling of being hungry being the most important thing in the world at that moment. A lovely book to inspire imaginative discussions in Reception and reflection upon their own younger selves!
Created in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this bright, appealing and interactive board book is a perfect way to inform the very young about the wonders of fruit and vegetables. In the garden, vegetables are sprouting; we can see their leafy tops. ‘What could they be?’ asks the text. Lift the sturdy flap – just right for little fingers – and there are parsnips, potatoes are carrots growing underground. On the following pages, we can lift flaps to discover more about things growing in the greenhouse, the orchard and inside the net cage, while the final flap reveals the special things growing in the pretty greenhouse, including bananas, pineapples and papayas. The cheerful illustrations are true to life and lovely to look at, and there are mini-beasts and brightly coloured flowers to spot and name on every page too. Part of a series of (very) first information books, this will be lovely to share with little children and will teach them so much about the food they eat.
If you have a young vegan or would-be vegan in the family, this book is a must-have. It contains dozens of recipes for tasty year-round cooking and eating, from drinks and snacks to main courses and puddings, all proof that you can have a delicious and varied diet totally meat, dairy and egg-free. The recipes are easy to follow and accompanied by full colour photos but it’s more than just a cookbook. Niki Webster slips in tips and advice too on keeping healthy and ensuring that you get enough iron and vitamins and includes a really useful FAQ section at the end as well as shopping lists and seasonal food charts. Her tone is just right, friendly, practical but inspiring. Keep a copy in the kitchen!
Albert the tortoise is woken up by the wind and finds himself very hungry. Unfortunately, before he can tuck in, his delicious breakfast has blown away, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, celery and carrots scattered across the garden. The insects kindly gather it up and bring it back, but each time they’re gone before slow Albert can say thank you. He eventually puts this right, and his method of expressing his thanks is highly imaginative, to say the least, and should have children in stitches! Albert is based on a real tortoise apparently (and his food has occasionally blown away we’re told) and there’s a page of fascinating tortoise facts as an added treat at the end.
Young chefs get an excellent introduction to culinary skills with Annabel Karmel's Fun, Fast & Easy Cookbook. The recipes have been designed for children and grown-ups to cook together and are divided into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks & Treats, with easy-to-follow steps, tempting photos and cooking tips. The recipes are a lovely mix of both healthy dishes, with fresh fruit and vegetables added in creative and appealing ways, and twists on old favourites such as sunshine paella, vroom vroom bolognese and pesto pizzas. Amongst the recipes there are informative double-spreads on essential food groups and nutrition plus useful rules to keep kids safe in the kitchen. There are also ideas for cooking for those with food allergies and dietary requirements, with suggestions of simple ingredient-swaps to turn the recipe into a vegetarian or vegan meal. This sturdy, colourful hardback makes a great gift, giving hours of entertainment and teaching an essential skill in a fun way.
Written by the nation’s favourite get-up-and-go fitness guru in collaboration with celebrated children’s writer Vivian French, Joe Wicks’ The Burpee Bears presents a blast of high-energy hijinks for families to read together, do together, and eat together - the book also contains fun physical exercises and recipes to help readers keep up the good work after the last page has been turned. Paul Howard’s illustrations are a blast of energy too - colourful, characterful, and dynamic. Meet the Burpee Bear family - from the moment they open their eyes, they get busy stretching and whirling before heading off on an adventure. Cue a whole lot of lively lunging, crawling and jumping, with Mummy and Daddy Bear’s infectious enthusiasm spurring young Bella, Frankie and Baby Bear (and readers) to enjoy getting active in the great outdoors. With a fun refrain to read (or yell) along with (“Are we ready? Are we steady? Let’s get cuddling/going/jumping/building!”), this is the perfect book to read together ahead of setting off on your own adventures, with tasty, healthy recipes to make on your return.
There’s a great joke running right through this witty picture book to the excellent punch line. Badger is always hungry and now his tummy is rumbling! He so badly wants the fresh white bread and peanut butter sandwich which he sees in the little boy’s hand. But others have designs on it too…A squirrel, a fox, a frog and a crow are just some of those who also covet the sandwich. After several accidents in which it gets gloopy, squishy, sluggy and slimy the sandwich does not look as good as it once did. Will anyone eat it now?? A hilarious treat of disgustingness!
“Nut loved his sister and Leaf loved her brother, but everyone knew they were NOT like each other!” So the scene is set for Lu Fraser’s glorious rhyming ode to being yourself, a cheering, amusing tale that’s brilliantly brought to live by Mark McKinley’s simply stunning illustrations - they’re a veritable rainbow of energy and characterful detail. While adventurous Leaf loves to shoot her bow and swim icy lakes, Nut has no outdoor pursuits skills whatsoever. Rather, he prefers to bake, and harbours a secret passion for “slicing and dicing and mixing and whisking and really pink icing!” All of which means, come Viking Sports Day, Nut’s contribution is something of a disaster, until he hurls his cake in the Great Throwing Race and Chief Olaf recognises his culinary talents. Great fun, and there’s no arguing with its wise, warm-hearted message - “happiness comes when you just be yourself.”
“Nut loved his sister and Leaf loved her brother, but everyone knew they were NOT like each other!” So the scene is set for Lu Fraser’s glorious rhyming ode to being yourself, a cheering, amusing tale that’s brilliantly brought to live by Mark McKinley’s simply stunning illustrations - they’re a veritable rainbow of energy and characterful detail. While adventurous Leaf loves to shoot her bow and swim icy lakes, Nut has no outdoor pursuits skills whatsoever. Rather, he prefers to bake, and harbours a secret passion for “slicing and dicing and mixing and whisking and really pink icing!” All of which means, come Viking Sports Day, Nut’s contribution is something of a disaster, until he hurls his cake in the Great Throwing Race and Chief Olaf recognises his culinary talents. Great fun, and there’s no arguing with its wise, warm-hearted message - “happiness comes when you just be yourself.”
Fizzing with friendship and a sense of adventure, while not shirking from (gently) exploring gritty real-life themes (food poverty and online bullying), Ewa Jozefkowicz’s The Cooking Club Detectives is perfectly pitched for Primary age pupils who like to get their teeth into mission-driven stories with heart. Erin and her mum have moved from North London to a new home, where she makes wonderful new friends, but quickly realises the differences between those who have it all and those who have less, such as herself. When Mum loses her job and decides to make a go of her long-held dream to work in her field of passion (cookery), Erin touchingly steps-in by enlisting her new friends to make Mum a cookery blog website, though trolls rear their ugly heads in the comments. At the same time, Erin loves the new Cooking Club she’s joined, but the community centre it’s held in has been sold, so she and her pals (plus detective dog Sausage) set about finding out who’s bought it and - crucially - saving the centre that’s so important to the local community. Pulling together, following your dreams and making a difference - this is a lovely heart-warming story.
Inspired by Bake Off or Masterchef but don’t know where to start? This is the book for you! Equal parts information and inspiration, it’s full of recipes kids can do easily, whether tasty snacks for film-night or an entire dinner. It explains techniques and runs through a safety checklist, then encourages kids to get cooking. The recipes are created by Helen Burgess of Little Cooks Co. and just the right level for the age group, while for extra fun there are related games and activities to do while the food is cooking or cooling, all designed to pass on more information. With colour photos and bright, lively design, the pages look good enough to eat and this is bound to whet the appetite of junior chefs.
