School Library Journal
This series combines cooking, food styling, and character animals to help readers successfully make a recipe all while learning a little more about their favorite animal. A table of contents starts showing short sections between two-to-four pages long and six recipes per book. Animated character animals based on the title topic is the chef instructing readers about the recipes and about the animal, such as Chef Llama saying: “I’m a herbivore...I eat fruit as treat. Make your own treat with these fruit skewers that look like flowers,” while vocabulary words are in bold. Bullet point information in order of operation, is given, as with any recipe, along with an ingredient and equipment list followed by step-by-step instructions with example pictures for each step. A single “all about” page gives facts about the real animal using a short paragraph and real photos accompanied by bubble facts. The back matter includes a glossary, index, read more, and learn more online. While the format is simple and clearly meant for younger readers, it is recognizable and could be helpful for combining and learning new skills with adult supervision. VERDICT A fun way to combine creativity, skills, and learning for beginning readers.
