We love… Cook in a Book, the interactive recipe books for children

Good food nourishes the body and good books nourish the mind.

Which must mean that reading recipe books is extremely good for you.

I’m a sucker for them and a couple of years ago we had to bring in a ban (or at least operate a one in, one out policy) because our shelves were groaning under the weight.

But I’ve made an exception for the Cook in a Book series from Phaidon.

These interactive children’s recipe books, illustrated by Lotta Nieminen, are a feast for the eyes, simple to follow and give a whole new spin to playing kitchen.

The text leads your little one through each step of making a simple dish, with clear pictures to illustrate.

But the best bit are the flaps, wheels and punch-out pieces to give mini chefs to role play the cooking process.

There are three chunky board books to choose from – Pancakes, Pizza and Tacos.

We have the the latter and Baby Bookworm gets huge delight from removing the cardboard knife to “chop, chop, chop” the spring onions and radishes.

He’s also a fan of removing the finished taco and pretending to feed it to us, which sits nicely alongside his fascination with the wooden tea set and cooking pans he received for Christmas.

This clever combination of play, toy and story, all wrapped up in one eye-catching package, is the perfect way to give reluctant readers the appetite for a book.

UPDATE: 17 October 2019

If you are greedy for more of these delicious books, a Cookies version is now available. This would make a sweet gift for little bakers.

Cook in a Book: Pancakes, Pizza, Tacos and Cookies, illustrated by Lotta Nieminen. £9.95 each (hardback), Phaidon