The Baking Cookbook for Teens: 75 Delicious Recipes for Sweet & Savory Treats by Robin Donovan

Bibliographic Information:

• Title: The Baking Cookbook for Teens: 75 Delicious Recipes for Sweet & Savory Treats
• Author: Robin Donovan
• ISBN: 1641521376
• Publisher: Rockridge Press
• Copyright Date: August 7, 2018

Genre: Cooking/Nonfiction

Format: Book

Age Level/Interest Level: Teens ages 13 and up (Baker & Taylor Titlesource360)

Awards/Honors: None found

Plot Summary: The Baking Cookbook for Teens: 75 Delicious Recipes for Sweet & Savory Treats is a “how to” cookbook for teens. The book contains information on baking basics, baking techniques and skills, equipment, prep and clean up, measuring, kitchen safety, and a glossary of terms. The recipes are organized into chapters, such as breakfast treats, cookies brownies and bars, savory treats, pizza, and easy dinners. The recipes are short and easy to follow. Most use ingredients that are easy to find in a regular grocery store. The back of the book has conversion tables (for measurements), a list of resources, and an extensive index.

Author Background: Robin Donovan is the author of over 40 cookbooks. She has been obsessed with food her entire life. Her mother was a food writer and she grew up in Berkeley California, a foodie town. Robin develops recipes for her cookbooks and her blog, Allwaysdelicious.com. She also develops, writes, tests, and photographs recipes for food companies, book and magazine publishers, and other clients. Her food writing has appeared in numerous magazines. Donovan lives in the Bay Area with her husband and son (Amazon, 2021). She loves spicy food and savory dumplings (All Ways Delicious, 2021).

Critical Evaluation: The Baking Cookbook for Teens is well written and easy to follow. The recipes seem simple, and teens should have no problem making them, regardless of their previous baking experience. The chapters on baking basics and fundamentals are very helpful. A 13-year-old reviewer on Goodreads.com said “The cookbook had easy to follow instructions and most of the ingredients are ones you have at home. I have tried almost half the recipes in the book. The only thing I would change about the cookbook is to include more finished recipe pictures” (Goodreads, 2018). Many other reviewers complained about the lack of pictures in the book.

Creative Use for a Library Program: For a library program, I would have each teen select a recipe from the book and make it at home. We would schedule a time when they could bring in what they baked and try each other’s dishes. (post- COVID!) The teens could talk about how they made their dish and what they liked or disliked about the recipe.

Speed-Round Book Talk: Are you obsessed with The Great British Bake Off? Here is your chance to learn how to bake like a pro! The Baking Cookbook for Teens has 75 recipes that you can make at home. The book has everything from breakfast to dessert and in between! As a bonus the book contains sections on the basics and fundamentals of baking. Who knows- maybe you can be the next “star baker!”

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense: I do not foresee any challenges or objections to this book.

Reason for Inclusion: I included The Baking Cookbook for Teens because teens love to bake and cook! Whenever I have baking or cooking library programs, they are full and usually have a waiting list. This happens in person at the library and when we run virtual programs using Zoom. Cookbooks for teens circulate more than most nonfiction books at my library. Teens will enjoy this book, despite its lack of photos.

References:

All Ways Delicious. (2021). About. Retrieved from https://allwaysdelicious.com/robin-donovan-all-ways-delicious/

Amazon. The Baking Cookbook for Teens: 75 Delicious Recipes for Sweet & Savory Treats. Photographs of pages from the book. [Photographs]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641521376/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1641521376&linkCode=as2&tag=robindonova05-20&linkId=71ca22b6784760633b8932b805bc25a9

Amazon. (2021). Robin Donovan. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Donovan/e/B001K7XK0E?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

Goodreads. (2018). The Baking Cookbook for Teens: 75 Delicious Recipes for Sweet & Savory Treats. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41066353-the-baking-cookbook-for-teens?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YJqCIWfjbn&rank=1