Cooking with Bear

April 29, 2019
“Forest food” might bring to mind grubs and leaves, but readers are in for a pleasant surprise in this follow-up to Bear’s Winter Party. After hibernating, hungry Bear wonders whether Fox and other friends—all rendered in thick, markerlike outlines and colored with light splashes of paint—have eaten. He searches for ingredients in his forest glen, visits his pals, and prepares a feast. Readers can try each of Bear’s 15 recipes, which are intermingled with the story and feature herbs, fruits, greens, nuts, and seeds (along with some store-bought items). The recipes include a salad with greens and honey vinaigrette, blueberry muffins, and chocolate chip cookies with hazelnuts. While urging readers to seek adult help when cooking (and perhaps while foraging for ingredients), Hodge promotes cooking with fresh foods and gently urges readers to, like Fox, “try something new.” Ages 4–7.

Starred review from January 15, 2019
Spring is here at last in this companion to Bear's Winter Party (2016), and Bear begins cooking for himself and his forest friends.First, Bear makes watercress soup. Then his friend Fox arrives to share the soup. "Can you teach me to cook like this?" Fox asks. So Bear shows Fox where he gathers his ingredients in the forest, and along the way, they visit friends. Squirrel has gathered nuts, so Bear shows Fox how to make nut burgers. Chickadee dried berries last summer, so granola with dried cranberries is next on the menu. Beaver's dreams of apples lead to a recipe for maple-apple crisp, and Deer and Hare's browsing to a spring greens salad with honey vinaigrette. The recipes provided for each dish have been taste-tested and are straightforward and clearly written. Young chefs are encouraged to cook with adults and ask them for help with anything sharp or hot. The volume subtly encourages eating seasonally and locally, using farmers markets, and planting gardens. Cinar's colorful, large-format illustrations have a Raschka-esque flair to them, with loose, inky outlines and splashy watercolor fill; the animals' faces are, appealingly, done in an especially childlike manner.A fun, accessible first cookbook for the little foxes in our lives. (author's note, recipe index) (Picture book/cookbook. 4-7)

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