Cook in a book: Spaghetti! an interactive recipe book by Lotta Nieminen

Previous books in this series, featuring pancakes, cookies, and tacos, are included in several of my circulating toy kits and I was curious to see what this latest title was like.

It's been a while since I've read the previous titles, but this one felt more like a direct recipe than the others for some reason. A list of the ingredients and utensils required fill the first spread, then step-by-step instructions for cooking the ingredients for the sauce. Readers can slide a tab to pour in olive oil, lift the top of a can of tomatoes, and pull a tab to watch water boil in the pot. This last one makes more sense on the opposite side, where pulling the tab pours the spaghetti into the pot. You can detach a cardboard fork to test the spaghetti, pull a tab to pour it into a colander, and then use the same tab to grate Parmesan cheese. On the final page, you can use the cardboard fork to twirl "spaghetti" around your "fork."

The art is blocky and minimalist, with bright colors and simple shapes. The spaghetti sauce is a simple recipe with garlic, tomatoes, basil and a few spices and the book could be followed as an actual recipe as well as just an experience. The cardboard pages are very sturdy, as are the tabs and movable parts, although the fork is likely to be lost and the binding is vulnerable at the hinges.

Verdict: These work very well in my library as part of real life play kits - the cookie one is included in a set with a Melissa and Doug tray of cookies and a play mixer for example. This would be a fun addition to a play cooking kit as well and is sturdy enough to last through numerous uses. It can also be added to a board book section, although the cardboard fork is likely to be quickly lost.

ISBN: 9781838666323; Published April 2023 by Phaidon; Review copy provided by the publisher