The author has kindly shared these recipes:

• sausage pie
• leek and cheese frittata
• coconut ice

Ready, Steady Spaghetti is a charming and effervescent book, one that makes you want to bring a child into the kitchen and start cooking.  Effervescence does not overwhelm usefulness, but adds to it, and the book will produce smiles when open to a recipe in the making, or when the recipe result is on the table.   As the title indicates, the book is for kids in its selection of recipes that appeal to the younger set, and with kids in the clarity and simplicity of the written recipes.  The book abounds in photographs that are so joyful that the adult will find that cooking with kids of any age is a form of entertainment, while youngsters will be inspired to copy dishes that are artistic in their presentation.  Appealing to both the eye and the taste buds, a happy time in the kitchen is guaranteed.  Not only a time for fun, coking together is also a time for bonding. If you don't have a young child at home, find one to borrow, and have a cooking party.

Broadhurst begins with a section written both for parent and child which includes tips for cooking with kids, and explains both the importance of organization as well as safety.  There is an explanation of basic nutrition that is short and clear and will start kids on good habits.   While they will fall in love with the sweet desserts, they will also be inclined to main courses and, yes, even the veggies.

The book is divided into six chapters:

-Little Food has kid-friendly recipes from nutrition packed Blueberry Pancakes to a beloved Guacamole, or Fresh Spring Rolls that kids can wrap themselves.

-Dinner Time is serious eating and there are recipes from a classic Pizza (kids love to sprinkle on the mozzarella) to Orange and Ginger Chicken Stir-fry, to Pork and Chive Dumplings where kids get to help crimp the wrappers.  You can try Potato Gnocchi: no child can resist pressing the tines of a fork into the gnocchi to make them beautiful.

-Eat Your Greens will have your kid loving veggies.  Not all vegetables are green but all are nutritious.  Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese is simple and tasty - even a resistant child will dig in.  Hash Browns are always a treat for kids, as are Scalloped Potatoes, while Honey Carrots make eating carrots a treat.

-Sticky Treats covers many desserts, most with good nutrition hidden in the sweetness.  Try a Bread and Butter Pudding made with milk and dried fruits, or a Baked Apple stuffed with raisins and watch your kids enjoy the sweet treat while getting nourishment.  Or try Lemon Delicious or Lime Delicious, another pair of treats make with milk.

-Cookies, Cakes and Sweets is play time for all as decorating takes the stage. Imagine the fun a child has making the thumbprint in Jam Thumbprint Cookies or cutting out the shapes for Gingerbread People that are decorated with colored frosting.  Cupcakes with a cocoa powder frosting are dressed with chocolate disks which lets kids put the crowning touch on a cupcake.

Let's Party if the chapter for solid fun. Make Zebra Sandwiches, a finger sandwich of bread and chocolate-hazelnut spread and/or Banana and Date Fingers which are attractive on a plate.   Mini Burgers are just the size for a child, while Cocktail Bonbons, sausages encase in dough and tied with string like the package of a bonbon, are so attractive that they will turn up at adult parties, too.  Sweets Banana Bites are pieces of potassium-rich bananas on a stick and dipped into chocolate.  There are Pirate Face Cookies made with jelly bans and Martian Cookies made with licorice allsorts and gummy candies and jelly beans. There are drinks as well, from a child's Piña Colada without alcohol of course, to Pineapple Cream or Chocolate Dream.

Ready, Steady, Spaghetti is a happy book and a useful book.  It will set kids on the road to good eating while providing the joy of making the right choices.

About the Author: Lucy Broadhurst hails from Australia where she is a food stylist and the author of several children's books.

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