Small Readers: If you love cooking you could be... by Elizabeth Dennis, illustrated by Natalie Kwee

I tried a previous title in this series, but found the illustrations too retro for the topic (video games). However, I think it works quite well for cooking.

Simple, bright illustrations show kids and adults in a variety of skin colors and genders and short paragraphs suggest different careers for kids interested in cooking and food. The three chapters include cook and chef, recipe developer, and food stylist. Suggestions for different places to cook food, how kids can experiment with recipes, and the different places chefs work. The third chapter on food stylist talks about how this career involves carefully choosing, cooking, and presenting ingredients. I'm a little skeptical about the claim that "In the past, food stylists used unsafe things like glue to make food look perfect." Could you really eat the food you see in magazines or online? I'm... skeptical.

The book opens with a brief, simple bibliography and ends with a list of several other food jobs including farmer, food critic, and nutritionist.

Verdict: This is an additional title to your easy reader collection. It's a higher reading level, but for kids interested in different careers and jobs and in food (and most kids are at least somewhat interested in food) this is a nice addition.

ISBN: 9781534454545; Published December 2019 by Simon Spotlight; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library