Additional Features Cookbook

Mission:Explore Food

- Cartoon-like illustrations. Colourful. So many different illustrations fill the space. Yet the white background assures that it isn't too overwhelming.
- The typeface resembles a typewriter. Reinforces the "Mission" title.
- Bright, colourful, busy and therefore engaging to children.
- Characters are shown.
- Not spiral-bound, but hard-backed.

This book contains added features: games, puzzles, missions, facts and hands-on experiments. This is a way to really engage children with the cooking recipes. The book also contains information on what happens to food after we eat it! It encourages children to learn about the food cycle and the environment. Information about seasonal foods is also offered.

Daniel Raven-Ellison, one of the authors, explains:

“A children’s book that asks them to question if the pig they are eating has ever seen the light of day, make scary soup and keep a poo diary might sound controversial, but it’s vitally important that children think about their relationship with food and have fun while doing it. We all appreciate that children should know how to cook and eat well, but these are just two chapters in the story of our food. Unlike most children’s cookbooks that ignore the rest of the food cycle, Mission:Explore Food includes activities that encourage children to learn about growing, harvesting, waste and soil as well. An essential ingredient is appreciating that their/our choices effect people and places around the world too.”

I think this page would have made me go vegetarian at a young age! Certainly controversial, but then it is teaching children information they would have never considered before. It is important that they know these things. I just hope it doesn't upset them too much!

This may have destroyed my childhood! The illustrations incorporate the story for "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" in order to create more impact with the child reader.

There is a website tie-in, where you can sign up to complete even more missions. An incentive of collecting rewards is offered.

On their website they also have more information on seasonal foods:
http://www.missionexplore.net/mission/cook_in_season

- A French cookbook all about educating children about seasonal foods.
- Cover is bright, with regonisable foods.
- Also contains a character.
- However, I think it could be busier and more dynamic to interest a younger audience and stand out amongst competitors. However, it seems like it could be an old book.
- Rounded typeface, easy to read.

- A double-page scene has been created. The character takes us through which foods come in season in autumn. I absolutely love this page and think it is such an excellent way to interest a child in seasonal foods. The children can scan the foods, searching for the ones that are in season.
The illustrations are colourful and engaging, certainly appealing to a young audience. I love how there is so much to spot, such as the worm under the ground and the snails.

- The colours reflect the season; autumnal oranges, reds, yellows and browns. The main character is also dressed appropriate to the season - a nice touch!

- Each step marked clearly by large numbers.
- Illustrations give colour and interest to the page.
- Modern typeface.

Endpapers:

Overall, a fun take on interesting children in seasonal foods.



My A to Z Recipe Book

- Aged 6+
- 26 Recipes
- This is such an unusual, creative way to display recipes. You can pull out the recipes from the box. A recipe for every letter of the alphabet.
- Bright, colourful design to appeal.
- I think it's unique presence will really interest children.
- There are also extra blank cards in the box - so that children can make their own recipes! This is such a great idea and encourages children to get creative.
- Characters, male and female.


Cooking in a Can

- Colourful illustrations. Involving children characters again.

 Encourages creativity through activities such as making your own apron!

 Pages are perhaps a bit minimal.

 More illustrations make the pages become more engaging.

A Seed Is Sleepy

This isn't a cooking book, but it is a children's picture book which encourages children to learn about different seeds. This is accomplished through the beautiful illustrations.

References:
http://whitelilygreen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/possibly-best-childrens-cookbook-ever.html
http://www.missionexplore.net/
http://eatingindenmark.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/french-childrens-cookbook.html
http://www.forkandbottle.com/books/kidsbook/kidsbk.htm

Junior Cookbook & New Junior Cookbook

I decided to look at this cookbook as it is intended towards the age range of my target audience.

The front cover is very exaggerated, with the characters appearing almost like caricatures. They are also chefs, seen by their adorning headwear. The background is similar to the pattern a picnic basket - something which relates strongly to food. Different types of food - healthy and not so healthy - appear on the front cover too.
The typeface is playful, rounded, large, and almost cartoonish to match the characters.
The book is again spiral bound.

Page taken up by illustrations. Cartoon-like. Not subtle. Playful characters.

Characters mixed with photography. Interacting with photography. Text mainly taking up right hand side, with the title and imagery taking prominence over the left. This stops the layout from becoming overwhelming.
Soft background colours had a hint of vinbrancy, yet they do not overshadow the photographs and illustrations.
Busy appearance - a lot going on.



The previous title - Junior Cookbook - has a slightly more subtle approach to illustration, one that I prefer. Though the characters are very cartoon-like, they have a softer appearance which I think is friendlier. 

 Appeals to children from ages 5-12. Contains "helpful hints" and ways to put a spin on the meal, which encourages the child's creativity.

The interior is fun, colourful, with attention-grabbing illustrations and titles. The text is less predominant on the page; the children can look at the exciting illustrations before they read the text. I do wonder however, on the example seen above, if the text could have been cut down into separate paragraphs, as there seems to be a large chunk of text present that I'm not sure a child would want to tackle.

References:
http://www.amazon.com/Junior-Cookbook-Better-Gardens-Cooking/dp/B0029LHWY0
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61nikAAlqcL._SY300_.jpg
http://www.fromvalskitchen.com/2012/review-better-homes-and-gardens-new-junior-cookbook/

Handstand Kids Cookbooks

The Handstand Kids Cookbook is a company that aims to introduce children to different types of food from around the globe, as well as different cultures and language. Aimed at children from 3-12.

The Mexican cookbook also comes with a colourful apron and oven mitt - an incentive for the purchase. The designs are colourful and obviously food related, being patterned with different utensils and food.

Different books come with different items related to the kitchen.

The interior is again colourful and contains a number of child characters. Chunks of text are lessened by friendly, rounded illustrations. The text is rounded and bubbly, though perhaps outdated.
This book is also spiral bound, which seems to be a common occurrence among children cookbooks.

These books are around the higher price range for children's cookbooks- around $15 - $25. This may have something to do with the "free" goodies inside, such as the aprons. The books themselves are fairly simplistic, similar to other children's cookbooks that I have viewed. The added extras - the whisks, aprons etc. - seem to be the selling point, along with the great idea of introducing your children to different cultures.

The same set of characters appear throughout the different cookbooks - and it is interesting to note that they are all of different races. This also encourages children to learn of different cultures.


References:
http://carly67.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/handstand-kids-mexican-cookbook-kit-review-give-away/
http://www.handstandkids.com/
mommyramblings.org

Tom Gates by Liz Pichon

I also looked at books aimed at children, out from the genre of cooking books. The one that most caught my eye was the popular Tom Gates series by Liz Pichon.

Pichon's illustrations appeal to my target audience (eight year olds) as they are fun, vivid, chaotic and interesting. The images leap out the page and grab your attention. There is so much going on - and this will appeal to the young audience, who like having lots of focus on to stop them getting bored. Yet it stops from becoming overwhelming thanks to the consistent visual language and complimentary colour scheme.

I had the opportunity to visit a talk by Pichon. During the talk, she explained how she found the cover of the first Tom Gates book problematic to create. She had the idea of making the front cover similar to a text book, yet was given the advice that this just wouldn't "pop" on a bookshelf. It had to stand out amongst its competitors. She combated this problem by filling the pages with colourful doodles and this become an instant success.
The illustrations are given a hand-drawn, sketchy effect, which relates well to children, for it seems almost like something they would draw themselves.

The pages are bursting with interesting characters, scribbles and patterns. 

Overall, I feel that Pichon has grasped what appeals this young audience and this is what makes her book series such a success. 


References:
http://www.lizpichon.co.uk/

Chef character development

Development from right to left.
The white eyes and black pupils made the character seem shocked - inverted it looks more stronger.
The nose also wasn't working.
Freckles add more personality to the character - a cute extra.


Edit: After user testing, I ended up added an outline to the chef's hat, for at the moment it is very hard to make out next to a white background.

Colour Test - Double Spread Pages

I did a number of colour tests, experimenting which colours would look best for my double page spreads. I originally intended to have very bright colours, but decided against it, feeling it was too harsh. Instead I opted for the background to be soft pastels, with brighter colours as the text. It therefore wasn't dull, though "popped" with the right amount of strong colours.
I related the colouring to the recipe food - purple and green for the purple sprouting broccoli page and orange and yellow for the egg page.

Other Non-Fiction for Children: Interactive

Martha Speaks

I wasn't just attracted to the "Martha Speaks" website because of the name. Martha's True Stories introduces children to interactive books and aims to get children more interesting non-fiction, to question how things work and why.

The online format is colourful and engaging for a young audience.

Seen on their website:

Martha's True Stories are divided into four "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) categories. Within each category, you'll find two nonfiction stories about the topic, plus another kind of nonfiction "text" (instructions, recipe, a made-up website, and so on). You can also watch the four related Martha Speaks videos (one for each STEM topic). After you read the stories, you can review the words using the Word Bones interactive glossary. There is also a short but fun Quizmo (vocabulary quiz) for each story or text, that will help reinforce the new vocabulary and concepts that your child is learning.

Interactive features are also present. You can tap and move objects and click on highlighted words for their definitions.  There is also a "tip" for parents, which involves suggestions on how to explore a topic.

 

 Colourful, friendly imagry to engage children.

Rounded visual language to appear non-threatening and friendly.

Ways to interest children in non-fiction, seen on their website:

Here are some ways to get your child enthusiastic about nonfiction:

• Your child probably has a passion for something—jokes, animals, cars, ballet, and so on. Look for nonfiction on your child's favorite subject.
• Make connections with what's happening in your child's life. Are you about to take a vacation? Find books, maps, or websites about where you are going. Is there a national election in the news? Get books about presidents, pets in the White House, or famous leaders from long ago.
• Consider the fiction your child likes and find books of nonfiction to match. Is your child a Martha Speaks fan? Find books about helper dogs, or how to care for puppies, or the Iditarod sled dog race.
• Reading about one thing can lead to another aspect of the same topic. Does your child love to read sports stories? Find biographies of athletes, how the Olympics started, or look through the sports section of the newspaper.
• If your child is really passionate about something, he or she may enjoy looking through or even reading a more advanced book on the subject, especially if there are lots of great photographs and/or illustrations.

Title page. Bright illustration. Rounded typeface.

 Colourful illustrations.
Easy language to understand.
Simple layout

 Video - more interaction.

 Arrow changes colour - from red to yellow - when mouse hovers over it.
Option to do quiz after you've learned the information.

Shows various scenarios to educate children.

TopMarks

Educating children of science. This shows the teaching of if a material is waterproof or not.

 Interactive clips. You can drag the material to the machine and water will pour over it. It even stays or breaks due to the water. This is a fun way of getting children to understand the information.
Bright imagery.

 Click through options using arrows.

Boowakwala

- A voice reads out the text. This is fun, especially since the voice is very high and unusual. Dsylexic children could also benefit from this. However, you can't do any of the actions until the voice has finished, which is frustrating to impatient people (such as me!)

- This recipe also teaches children about different cultures - it is a meal they might not have made before themselves. 

- Sounds are made when you click on an object.

- Once you've put the ingredients in the bowl in the right order, there will be an action sequence of the meal being cooked and the other characters either disliking it - if you've done it wrong - or preparing to eat it - if you've done it right.

As you grab the ingredients to put it in the bowl, they do a different action.

After you've done this though  there is very little else to do. I think more information could have been included, perhaps to explain what some of the foreign ingredients were.

This research has taught me that children respond well to interactivity. There are fun, engaging ways to educate children - this is certainly true. All children will have an ideal way to learn and some will respond will to interactive elements.

References:

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b=english/non_fiction

http://pbskids.org/martha/