I’m not sure whether to call Easy Party Treats for Children a cook book for adults or non-fiction for children! The layout is very child-friendly with super pictures of each treat, but the text is aimed at adults. This is an ‘assembly’ type recipe book with clear instructions and photographs of the finished products for a whole range of party treats made by gluing together different lollies. The author has grouped the recipes by theme, with chapters covering: Vehicles, planes and trains; Love treats; Princesses and tea parties; Animals; Little figures; Aliens and creepy crawlies; Cone figures; Marshmallows; Marie biscuits; Rice Krispies; Miscellaneous.
I’m liking
The wonderful photos of each recipe to show you exactly what to stick where. The comprehensive index. The awesome trains. The instructions are very clear, though with the recipe that we tried, I way underestimated the time it takes to stick a few sweets and wafer biscuits together!!
I like the way this could be used in a number of different ways – the author suggests a holiday treat activity with the grandparents, which I think is a great idea.
Things that made me go hmmmm
The only thing that makes life difficult is the problem of what to call the ingredients. The book is South African and features some things that I would call different names (like Marie biscuits, Sweetie Pies, Chomps, Jelly Tots…..) and a few that I don’t know whether I could get here (pens with edible ink? cake glitter?). The photos more than make up for this though as it’s clear what is meant.
Also, if you were looking for any non-sweet party treats, you’d be out of luck. The book is straight sugar all the way through!
I wouldn’t personally use it to create a themed birthday party, as it would be a lot of work making more than a couple of things.
The conclusion
I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes to be in the kitchen with their children, or anyone who wants to keep the kids occupied for some time in the holidays, or any extended family member looking for a way to spoil the grandchildren/nieces and nephews/etc….. It’s great fun to look through together with an older child too (my 5 year old loved choosing a recipe to make, but my 4 year old just chose the first one she saw). Stock up on lollies from the bulk bins and go for it!
