This child-friendly cookbook features traditional latkes and easy-to-make jelly doughnuts as well as less-traditional, kid-inspired treats.
Beyond the classic potato latke, young chefs will learn how to make seven other varieties from cheese, vegetables, apples and even chicken, for eight types of meals ranging from brunch to Shabbat dinner or a pajama party. Many of the recipes reflect American staples: Peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches cut in triangles are placed in a stack to create a Jewish star, for example. Hot dog mini-kebabs are another example, but Groner and Wikler are careful to include some lesser-known culinary customs, such as a meal designed for Sephardic communities that includes “burmuelos” a flour, milk and egg–based fried doughnut sprinkled with cinnamon, and the crescent-shaped “new moon cookie” offered in celebrations of Rosh Chodesh Tevet (the new moon that falls during Hanukkah). Primary colors in simply drawn, black marker–outlined illustrations decorate section headings and recipe titles in large purple and pink lettering. Sprinkled throughout are informative pages on such topics as the holiday itself, commemorative postage stamps and Israeli-style celebrations. Kitchen tips and difficulty scale, including those that require adult supervision, introduce the book, while specifics from candle-lighting blessings to dreidel rules and table-decorating crafts complete the text.
Both well-conceived and useful. (index) (Nonfiction. 5-10)
