5 fun cookbooks to get kids in the kitchen with you

1.  Cooking With Curious Chef 

This cookbook contains 36 recipes for kids to make and also includes nutrition tips and food facts without being boring and preachy about it. We also have the Curious Chef Prep Kit, which includes a kid-safe knife, vegetable peeler, produce scrubber, and more. The cookbook is recommended for kids 4 and up, the prep kit for kids 5 and up. (Cooking With Curious Chef; Amazon, $19.99)

2.  Better Homes & Gardens New Junior Cook Book

I had a (much-older!) version of this when I was a kid and I made every recipe in it. It’s been updated several times since then, but it still begins with an introduction to cooking terms, instructions on how to measure ingredients and practice food safety, and other important notes for beginners. The book has 65 recipes, with pictures and stories to go along with each. Kids can make breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and healthy treats. (Better Homes & Gardens New Junior Cook Book; Amazon, $12.24)

3. Fix-It and Forget-It Kids’ Cookbook: 50 Favorite Recipes To Make In A Slow Cooker

While this has recipes for every meal, we like to make the snacks and drinks best. Toss in ingredients for Crunchy Snack Mix or Minty Hot Chocolate, head outside and play, then come in and have a tasty treat waiting for you! (Fix-It and Forget-It Kids’ Cookbook; Amazon, $8.98)

4. Mermaid Cookbook

The Mermaid Cookbook has exactly what you’d think – frothy floats, some snacks, sweet little cookies and cakes, and various other treats. It’s not big on hearty meals, but it would be fun to spend an afternoon making Sea Turtle Cookies or Little Luau Cakes and Sea Foam Floats and having a mermaid party in the dead of winter. (Mermaid Cookbook; Amazon, $12.08)

5. The Everything Kids’ Cookbook

More than 90 recipes that cover everything from pancakes to tacos to peanut butter squares. There’s a scale to indicate how hard each recipe is, so kids can start easy and work their way up, and there are recipes for holidays along with everyday standards. (The Everything Kids’ Cookbook; Amazon, $7.74)