Nonna's Birthday Surprise

K-Gr 2—The celebrity chef gathers her five grandchildren to make a meal for their other grandmother's birthday. Before they start the dinner preparations, Bastianich tells about her childhood on a farm in Italy. She explains how each of the four seasons has its special foods. This leads to a lesson on where food comes from, and then they all go to a farmer's market where the children are told to pick out anything they want. "We can figure out what to make when we get it all home," says Grandma. Once home they discover that they have just what they need to make pasta primavera, and they all help prepare the meal. More family members arrive, and the birthday is duly celebrated. The remainder of the book is recipes, at least four for each season. The recipes make up such a prominent part of the book that it's best shelved in the 641s rather than in the picture-book section. The recipes are quite complex but each one has a "Kids Can" section for the parts of the preparation that are appropriate for children. The illustrations vary in size from full spreads to three varying scenes per spread. The faces are uniform and unchanging. This is a title that the whole family can enjoy as grown-ups and kids start cooking together.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI