Little Chefs Family Literacy Cooking Program (2012)

Little Chefs is a cooking program for family literacy groups. The program is designed to be offered over 15 sessions, each focusing on a particular book, with recipes, activities, and crafts related to that book.
For example, the session based on Eric Carle’s picture book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" includes a recipe for fruit salad; a selection of caterpillar-related songs and rhymes; and directions for making a felt board or story cards based on the book.
Another session is based on the book "I Can’t Have Bannock but the Beaver Has a Dam," by Bernelda Wheeler. The book tells the story of a boy whose mother can’t make bannock, a kind of bread traditionally eaten by First Nations people, because a beaver has cut down a tree and knocked out a power line, cutting off the electricity for the family’s stove. That session includes a recipe for bannock, along with a selection of rhymes reflecting life in the North.
The authors point out that cooking is a great activity to share with children because it is simple to organize, and offers opportunities for them to develop a variety of skills, including reading, counting, and measuring.