[.ca] Meals Without Squeals: Child Care Feeding Guide & Cookbook (ISBN 1933503009)

INSTITUTIONAL; NOT TOO HELPFUL FOR PARENTS:
I guess the title should have warned me: CHILDCARE feeding guide. This book is not for parents trying to feed their own kids healthy meals; it is geared toward a daycare setting. Most of the book centers on the logistics of meal preparation (e.g. sanitary food-handling) and common sense dietary information (eat lots of vegetables!). The few recipes that are included don't sound very appealing, plus they feed 8-12 children. If I were a daycare provider I might have given this book 5 stars, but it's not very helpful for a family.

Helpful for Parents and Teachers:
This is an excellent book for Childcare Providers and parents. The book includes helpful information on child development and nutritional needs, educational and community resources on child nutrition as well as information on cooking for medium sized groups of children in the childcare setting. It's a helpful resource for the teacher, the parent asked to run the 'cooking corner' in the weekly programme as well as the parent at home. Meals can easily be adjusted to a family sized group (although 6 preschoolers eat about the same amount as a family of two adults and two children). It's also helpful in educating parents as to what they should expect from their child's school meal programme. Its companion book, 'Teaching Children About Food' has great ideas for educating kids about food, cultural diversity, consumerism and where food comes from. It's also an excellent resource for the parent wishing to enrich the home kitchen as well as the teacher.