What’s not to like in a cook­book that con­sists of 35 dessert recipes plus a smat­ter­ing of kid pleas­ing main dish­es and snacks? This cook­book is a win­ner. The recipes are sim­ple to under­stand and appeal­ing to young read­ers. The table of con­tents and each page include mouth-water­ing full col­or pho­tographs. The intro­duc­to­ry pages pro­vide basic cook­ing infor­ma­tion, safe­ty tips, and def­i­n­i­tions of cook­ing terms. Kudos to the author for address­ing the book to ​“Chil­dren Every­where” rather than just girls, and for show­ing both a boy and girl bak­ing cook­ies in the fron­tispiece illustration. 

A cou­ple of minor crit­i­cisms: the choco­late chip cook­ie recipe doesn’t spec­i­fy cream­ing the but­ter and sug­ar first. Also, list­ing the def­i­n­i­tions of cook­ing terms in mul­ti­ple lists (pop­u­lar terms, mix­ing terms, cook­ing terms, and basics) might pre­vent young cooks from find­ing the information. 

This book was very pop­u­lar in my sixth grade pub­lic school class­room. Accord­ing to eleven-year-old Sid­ney, ​“The Cher­ry on Top cook­book will inspire many kids to cook. The recipes are fun and easy to share. Also, the ingre­di­ents here are things that they will eas­i­ly find at the store. Every­thing tastes bet­ter fresh and right out of the oven. So, kids will love this book. It will also keep them busy.” Rec­om­mend­ed for all ages.