04/01/2014
Gr 3–8—While general Jewish holiday cookbooks for children are relatively easy to find, Let My Children Cook! fills a kid-friendly Passover cooking niche that has been neglected since the original publication of Tabs and Steinberg's Matzah Meals by Kar-Ben in 1985 (reissued in 2004). With over 80 recipes ranging from the very easy Dried Fruit Kabobs to more complicated soups and baked chicken, Ansh offers plenty of ideas to help families make it through the Passover holiday without resorting to Matzah Pizza every night (though there is a recipe for it on page 24). Colorful illustrations of safety tips accompany each spread. The cookbook appears to target traditional Ashkenazic Jewish families, as no mention of the origin of the holiday is made and all spellings reflect Ashkenazi pronunciation ("charoses," "bas mitzvah"). In addition, some ingredients, such as a frozen gefilte fish roll, may be difficult to find in communities without a large Kosher grocery. Each recipe notes whether it is meat, dairy, or pareve and gives a suggested number of servings. The introduction states that gluten-free recipes are noted; however, only three recipes are marked "GF," while a number of recipes contain no gluten (most of the fruit desserts, the salads, etc.) and should be marked as such for the ease of cooks flipping through the recipes. Another organizational weakness is the lack of an index in a cookbook containing so many recipes with a great variety of ingredients. A few Passover art projects tacked onto the end seem to be an afterthought. In spite of these shortcomings, this cookbook should earn a spot in Judaic collections and the libraries of Jewish day schools.—Martha Link Yesowitch, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC
