Bean Appetit

Gr 2—5—Fifteen bean-themed chapters (for instance, "Peanocchio: Book-Themed Food and Fun" and "Sweet Pea: Delicious Desserts") make up this playful mix of recipes, games, songs, and activities. Based on ideas used at Bean Sprouts, the authors' café and cooking school, the book has a commendable emphasis on healthy eating and using natural and organic ingredients. However, it suffers in other ways. Some of the directions are vague and require an experienced adult to fill in the details. A page listing ingredients for "Sweet Sippers" gives great ideas for making smoothies but doesn't suggest any specific (or even general) quantities. Elsewhere, readers are told they can grow herbs from seed by planting them in pots and simply "tending them." The graphics, mostly cartoons in varying shades of green, set a whimsical tone but serve little other function. There are some color photos throughout but few show the finished dishes. Overall, this could be a useful resource for adults who, like the authors, work with groups of children. It also may be more suited to personal rather than library use, since there are places where readers are told to mark the book (play "Bean-go" by crossing off pictures of fruits and vegetables as you taste them).—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL