According to the blurb on the back of the book, from Chef, Tom Aikens, "This is a fun book, filled with great tips that really get kids excited about ingredients and helping out in the kitchen. The recipes are easy and straightforward and I like the funny little snippets of info, which make the book entertaining, as well as informative. This is an educational book that kids will love !"
Well, all that is totally true but he forgot to mention that this is another offering from the lovable loons at Anorak so it also contains a whole load of hilarious jokes, madcap mayhem and things to make you go oooh, aaaah, wow and euurggghhh in equal measures !
I've already reviewed the fabulous retro-style Anorak Magazine - dubbed "the happy mag for happy kids" - here and the wonderfully different activity book here, so as soon as 9-year-old Sophie realised this was another Anorak book (which she did instantly, presumably from the colours, drawings and style of writing), she was over the moon, as you can see in the top photo !
I love it when Sophie is reading an Anorak book or magazine because every five minutes, she snorts with laughter and says "Look Mum" or "Did you know ... ?" or "Guess what ! ..." and shares all her new-found knowledge with me ! Despite the theme of this book being food, a subject I thought I knew a lot about, I still learnt loads of new things and read it from cover to cover when the kids were in bed !
Usually I love the retro-inspired colours of the magazines but the fact that the Food Is Fun book only uses very few colours (predominantly orange and blue with splashes of white and brown) does have one major downfall - the colours of unusual vegetables are the wrong colour which makes it harder for kids to actually recognise them in real life. I just know Sophie will be looking for blue celeriac the next time go to the local farmers market ! I know people used to watch snooker on black and white TVs but this sixth sense for colour is obviously a skill that has been lost in the process of evolution !
The book is lovely and thick - the same size as an annual but with more pages (160 pages) and is printed on thick, resistant paper. It has the perfect mix of activities (such as wordsearches and mazes), factual articles, jokes and innovative recipes that are simple but exotic.
Sophie said she won't speak to me for the rest of the day if I don't give it 5/5 because it's brilliant. Sorely tempting as that may be to get a bit of peace and quiet, I have to agree with her ! The book is now full of post-it notes highlinghting all the things the girls want to try out in the kitchen !
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £15
for more information : http://www.anorak-magazine.co.uk/foodisfun/
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looks great, i do agree with you about the colours though - would have been better if they had used the correct colours!
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