Twist It Up! by Jack Witherspoon great recipes for tweens (ages 9 - 14)

Children love making things and they especially love cooking. Tweens are especially excited to get cooking, learning to use different ingredients to make dishes their family and friends will want to eat. If you have a kid who has fun experimenting in the kitchen, check out this new cook book from the inspiring Jack Witherspoon.

Twist It Up: More than 60 delicious recipes from an inspiring young chef
by Jack Witherspoon
CA: Chronicle, 2012
ages 9 - 14
preview available on Google Books
available at your local library, favorite bookstore or on Amazon

Young Chef Jack will inspire kids to get into the kitchen and make some magic. His passion for cooking began in the hospital at age 6, as he was battling a relapse of childhood leukemia. One day, he happened upon the Food Network and ever since he has followed his passion to become a chef himself.

Today, 11-year-old Chef Jack is happy and optimistic that his treatments will keep him healthy. The sales of this cookbook benefit pediatric leukemia research.

Our school’s cooking teacher and some of her students reviewed Twist It Up and give it a definite thumbs up. The roasted sweet potato wedges were delicious and crispy without being fried. Another rainy winter day, they tried the Norwegian pancakes. The kids especially enjoyed filling the pancakes with jam and then rolling them.

While this book doesn’t emphasize whole grains or seasonal fruits and vegetables, it does get kids excited about cooking. The mouthwatering photographs and Jack’s personal stories pull readers into this cookbook again and again.

Take a look inside this book here:
Twist It Up: More Than 60 Delicious Recipes from an Inspiring Young Chef

And watch Jack in action in this video:


For more great cookbooks for kids, head over to this month's Parents Press. This month's monthly Bookshelf column features cookbooks for children, from young preschoolers through tweens.

The review copy was kindly sent by the publisher, Chronicle Books. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books (at no cost to you!). Thank you for your support.

Review ©2012 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books