Some of the best cookbooks are those you enjoy reading outside the kitchen for their own sake. Kitchen for Kids is one of these: it is a pleasure to browse because of its gorgeous design, a combination of superb photography, smart colour accents, a good sans-serif typeface, and generous white space.

The author, who is the food editor at Canadian House & Home, created the recipes and did the food styling and props for the book. As the mother of two young children, Jennifer Low saw a need for kid-safe recipes that don’t require stovetop burners, electrical appliances, and sharp knives. So, for example, pasta is soaked in hot tap water and later baked with sauce in the oven. Garlic salt is used in place of the minced fresh stuff. Butter is brought to room temperature so that it can be creamed with a wooden spoon. The recipes were written for adults to read to children, and adult supervision is required for things like taking food out of the oven and explaining phrases like “sift together” and “pinch of salt.”

I had a 12-year-old volunteer make the garlic pepper crisps (wonton wrappers that are oiled, spice-coated, and baked), and we found the instructions thorough and easy to understand. I made the lemon bars myself, and despite an accurate oven temperature and timer, the crust was underdone and the lemon curd seemed to need more egg yolks.

Notwithstanding this problem, Kitchen for Kids is good for adults and kids with time to spend, especially those who love breads and sweets, which are really the focus of this book