Let's Get Cookin'

Each year brings different readers into my classroom. This year my students are into practical nonfiction - they want to make, take, and do. They want to learn how to code and beat various tasks on Mine Craft. They are also loving DIY and crafting books -- especially cookbooks. I have several students that just can't get enough cookbooks. Several students have even created food or recipe related blogs on Kid Blog.

Before, jumping down the book buying rabbit hole, I gave my students a short Google Form asking what they thought my library needed. Students had the option to respond by author, genre, or title. And they could make as many suggestions as they wanted. I told them I may not be able to buy all their suggestions but would find ways to make sure our classroom library was meeting our needs. After the survey, I noticed that many students were requesting cookbooks. I didn't have single cookbook in my classroom library and to make matters worse, the school library's cookbooks looked dated and a pretty "elementary" for some of my savvy young chefs. So, I set out to find a few great cookbooks for upper elementary readers!

After shopping around and asking for suggestions on social media, I found several great looking cookbooks. Many "felt" like cookbooks and had excellent photographs of foods and steps. The Kid Chef cookbooks also have sidebars with common pit-falls and solutions. Lots of great culinary vocabulary and techniques are covered each of these books as well.

Be Budget Wise: Many of these books are available on Amazon as well as cheaper online solutions like Thriftbooks and Book Outlet. Shop around as the price of a good cookbook (even for kids) can be pricey!

Here are a few of my students' favorites: 
Clicking each image will take you to the Amazon page for each book. 

How you do build your library cater to your students' needs?
What cooking essentials am I still missing in our classroom?