Kitchen Fun

Grade 2-4-- The kitchen, this book says, contains a wealth of materials for cooking things, making things, and doing scientific experiments. Fourteen projects are described, with step-by-step directions, inviting photographs, and enthusiastic additional information on the side ("Is a peanut a nut? No! . . .and it doesn't grow on a tree."). However, some of the directions are sketchy and may be confusing to children: to make a box out of chocolate chip cookies, the authors show small patterns for the pieces with the admonition to "scale these up to whatever size you like." There's a "knife trick" in which the friction of a knife is supposed to pick up a heavy jar of rice. It doesn't. There is a cake which needs to have sourdough starter which has been tended for seven days; this is an iffy process for anyone, but certainly for young readers. There are some imaginative and whimsical ideas that are possible: a dinosaur collage made of chicken bones; a baking soda and vinegar volcano; pretzels made into initials; and some other good things. Playful readers could have a lot of fun with this book as long as they have adult guidance. --Carolyn Jenks, Oyster River Elementary School, Durham, N.H.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.