Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from Classic Children's Stories

Kid-friendly recipes inspired by classic children's stories!

Odell, Carol.
Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from Classic Children's Stories.
May 2010.
Sleeping Bear Press.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

Carol Odell explains to readers thatwhen you read a story by a good writer you can sometimes hear and see and smell the story! You know exactly what Pooh sounds like when he is "humming to himself in rather a sticky voice." You can soar away with Peter Pan out of your bed into the night sky. And don't you wish you could have some of the jam tarts from Alice in Wonderland?Odell goes on to explain that with her newest book, Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from Class Children's Stories, now offers children to do just that - to step into the world of many well-known characters and experience the food that they might have eaten! All of the recipes are inspired by well-known children's literature and the book contains recipes that are appropriate to fill all meals of the day (breakfast, sandwiches, main meals and even desserts). All of the recipes are combined with an excerpt from the specific literature piece that inspired it!

I absolutely love this book! It's so fun... and full of information. It really makes you start thinking outside the box a bit and further analyzing some of the literature you read! For children, this might be harder, but after sharing a book like this with your children, I think you'll probably find yourself looking for "recipe inspiration" in other stories you share, as well!

The children's literature that inspired the recipes include:

• The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle
• The Jungle Book
• The Secret Garden
• The Cinnamon Tree in the Moon
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
• Treasure Island
• The Wind in the Willows
• Winnie-the-Pooh
• The Life and Adventures of Robin Hood
• Little Women
• The Owl and the Pussy-cat
• Peter Piper
• Robinson Crusoe
• The Story of Aladdin
• Peter Pan
• Pinocchio
• The Water Babies
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• The Fir Tree
• Beauty and the Beast
  

Learning/Reading Activity:

• Purchase this book to share with your child(ren). Look it over yourself, then head out to the library and check out a selection of books that inspired the recipes in Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen. Share the stories with your child(ren) and then discuss how the recipes are mentioned (or referred to in different ways) in the story. Then, work together to create the recipe inspired by the book! This would make for a wonderful rainy-day activity!
  

If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!