The Bottom Line
By Joyce Dassonville and Ehren McDow; 112 pages. Subtitle: No-Cook Recipes for the Special Chef - 51 Safe, Delicious and Fun Recipes for Children and Special-Needs Individuals
Teaching your child to cook can be a frustrating process if you have to depend on reading skills or your own ability to describe what to do. The Picture Cookbook, put together by the parent of a child with autism, is designed to lead kids through recipes on a detailed pictorial path, with each tiny step illustrated. Try them with your child, then use the author's methods to map out some dishes of your own.
Pros
- The pictures offer a very thorough, word-free path through the recipe
- The recipes range from very simple to multi-page and multi-step
- Recipes are designed for chefs with special needs
- Articles in the back explain how to help your child develop cooking skills
- None of the recipes call for cooking, so your child won't have to use an oven or stove
Cons
- A lot of the recipes call for chopping and slicing, so your child will have to use a knife
- If your child has problems with visual organization, the little pictures may all run together
- Different-looking tools than the ones in the picture may confuse your child
- Kids who don't dig veggies will find many of the recipes unappealing
Description
- Breakfast Foods, including Bagel With Cream Cheese, Croissant/Baguette With Jam, Fresh Fruit and Granola, Cereal With Milk
- Cold Drinks, including Chocolate Milk, Freshly Squeezed Grapefruit Juice, Juice From Concentrate, Drink Mix, Lemonade
- Cold Soups and Salads, including Fruit Salad, Caesar Salad, Greek Salad, Garden Salad, Berry Soup, Spicy Tomato Soup
- Sandwiches, including Peanut Butter and Banana, Peanut Butter and Jam, Ham and Cheese, Roast Beef, Veggie Wrap, Chicken Wrap
- Snacks, including Crackers With Cheese Spread, Vegetables and Dip, Bruschetta Crackers, Chocolate Wheat Puffs
- Desserts, including Ice Cream Pie, Banana Split, Cherry Surprise Balls, Strawberry Shortcake, Instant Pudding
- For the Parent, Teacher, and Caregiver: The Long Road to Functional Independence
Guide Review - Book Review: The Picture Cookbook
Like many good ideas for children with special needs, this cookbook was developed by a parent who started out trying to find a solution for her own child. Joyce Dassonville has a daughter with autism and an interest in cooking. The mother soon learned, after mishaps involving inedible dishes and a melted aluminum pot, that instructions had to be visual and include absolutely every tiny step between start and completion. The recipes in The Picture Cookbook are what she came up with, including photos of each ingredient and every implement and each moment of preparation.
Will what worked for Dassonville's daughter work for your child? That depends on how exactly your young chef needs to follow the photos. You may have to invest in tools like the ones pictured (and since they're well thought-out for safety and ease of use, that's not a bad idea), and package your ingredients in similar containers. If your child has trouble following the tiny pictures without losing her way, you may want to make color copies and laminate or slip them in plastic sleeves, so steps can be checked off with an erasable pen.
But what may be even more appealing here than the particular recipes or the grid-like layout is the idea of photographing your way through a recipe and making those pictures into a cooking path for your child to follow. If the dishes here don't suit or the presentation is overwhelming, use the idea and the suggestions in the back of the book to create your own picture cookbook, tailored to the exacting specifications of your own special chef. Salads and sandwiches aren't the only goodies it can show you how to whip up.
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