he easiest and best way to become a good cook is to start as a child. My four year old is a world class chef. He will tell you so himself. In fact he will tell you that he is a much better chef than mommy. He will also tell you that he skis much better than daddy.
What he won't tell you because he cannot articulate it is that he has a great feeling of comfort about food and cooking. It is part of the world that he feels mastery over. That is more than most adults can say. He learned this by cooking with me.
Most of what we do is cook meals together, bake bread, make birthday cakes--whatever our family needs. This was going fine until I was lucky enough to interview Mollie Katzen of Moosewood Cookbook [0] fame. She has recently written two cookbooks for kids: Honest Pretzels [0] and Pretend Soup [0].

Talking with Mollie Katzen was eye-opening. She talked about setting up the whole cooking experience to be kid-friendly. This means the child is not just helping the grown-up, the child is in charge. The layouts of her recipes are made to be read by kids. Even pre-readers can follow the illustrated directions in "Pretend Soup."
The most important thing that the adult can do, says Katzen, is to prepare in advance. Make sure you have all the ingredients you need and get them out on the counter. Katzen tested all the recipes in her two book for kids on over 50 recipe testers all of whom were kids. And she says she stood back and let them cook.

Keep it child-sized but child-led
[0] She counsels that you should cook at the dining room table or somewhere your kid can comfortably reach. But don't think a child's small size means limited skills. Basic caution is always important, knives, stoves and so on need to be negotiated. But kids can do just about anything for which their bodies are strong enough and for which they have the manual dexterity.
And let the kids choose the recipes, make the grocery list, and serve the dinner. Then they have not just helped make dinner, they have created it entirely themselves.

The not-so-obvious side effect of these cookbooks is that you end up with kids who not only like to cook but like to experiment with food (read "try new things"). What parent would not want that? And best of all the recipes are food I would want to eat too.
"Pretend Soup" is the book for the preschool to first grade set. It contains recipes like Quesadillas, Zucchini Moons, Pizza, and French Toast. "Honest Pretzels" is more complex as is fitting for 8-year-olds and up. There are recipes for Waffles, Pancakes, Creamy Corn Soup, Spaghetti Pie, Made-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake, and my favorite, Mysterious Dipping Sauce for Vegetables and Tofu. These recipes are real food. Still, they are not a whole big production to make.

The books are well illustrated and filled with information. In "Pretend Soup" there are notes to the grown-ups and in "Honest Pretzels" there is a section of tasks that need grown-up help. But the books never in any way talk down to kids.

Not just another pretty cookbook
[0] If you want more information about the books Mollie Katzen has a web site: http://www.molliekatzen.com [1]. She fills this site with recipes, nutrition information, essays that are food related, and of course information about her books.
This woman is no slouch. She is on the Harvard Nutrition Roundtable and takes learning about food and nutrition very seriously. Mollie Katzen was even named "one of the five women who changed the way we eat" by Health Magazine. Impressive title, and more so when you realize that she cares very much about the people least likely to purchase her books themselves.

My mom bought "Pretend Soup" for my 4 year old son. Even though he is the Best Chef in the World he was awed to have his own cookbook. He treasures it. When we cook from it he has a certain swagger and pride that is not always there when I am in charge.
Just an aside, if you yourself are not a great cook these books can help. You can learn with your children. Show your kids that even as adults we never stop growing. Both of you could end up as the Best Chef in the World. If not you will eat some good food and have a good time together. This kitchen bonding creates lasting memories of kitchen happiness, a great gift to your children and one that many in this generation of take-out and frozen food may miss.

Editor's note: The Recipe Box [1] now has a Cooking With Kids section! Take a recipe, leave a recipe.

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Michelle Auerbach Brode was a professional chef. Now she is much happier cooking at home for her family and talking about food incessantly. If you need to talk to her about food or anything else she can be reached at Michelle.Brode@pobox.com. [2]