Just Desserts and Other Treats for Kids to Make. Rev. ed.

Christy Conte is a member of the Parents Advisory Committee at the
YMCA’s Parent and Child Enrichment Centre, and a journalist.

The children’s cookbook market is a crowded place. Today’s titles
usually include eye-popping graphics, built-in cookie cutters, or
cookbook/coloring book combinations. Some resort to “shock
cookery”—remember gummy worms in Oreo crumb mud? From the happy
fruity face on the front cover to the pink gingham graphics inside, Just
Desserts is just, well, nice.

Linton has included almost 60 recipes, grouped under such traditional
chapter headings as “Cookies,” “Cakes,” and “Pies.” Each
recipe features a “You will need” section, and includes a list of
necessary utensils, a blocked-out section for microwave cooking (where
appropriate), and numbered instructions. The desserts featured are
mostly those of the homey, old-fashioned variety—Honey cake, Lemon
angel pie, Giant peanut butter cookies are typical entries. Notes of
historical or gastronomic interest sprinkled throughout the book add a
whimsical touch. On a more practical note, the author includes
glossaries of cooking words, utensils, microwave tips, and measurements.

Just Desserts may lack the trendy “in-your-face” attitude of some
of its rivals, but it certainly holds its own in terms of variety,
practicality, and taste. A spiral binding and wipeable pages would have
been useful. Recommended.