Food glorious food!! (Feeding Your Baby and Toddler - Annabel Karmel)

Member Name: nessie3105

Product:	Feeding Your Baby and Toddler - Annabel Karmel
Date:	31/08/07 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of ideas and advice; Easy to read

Disadvantages: £14.99

My daughter Ellie is nearly 5 months old, so I felt it was time to start thinking about the joys of introducing her to solid foods.

Being a first time mum and wanting to do things right, I decided to buy a book to give me some hints and tips, so I made a trip to my local WH Smith store.

I was astounded by the amount of books to choose from on the themes of weaning and baby / toddler feeding. To be honest, I didn't really know where to start or which book to choose.

I chose the Annabel Karmel book because it seemed to have a good variety of different information and the kind of things that I needed to know. The book also had lots of photographs to accompany the written information, which I felt would make the task of reading and absorbing the information more enjoyable and useful.

It was not the cheapest option, priced at £14.99, but with nearly 200 pages and an A4 sized, hardback book, I did not feel that this was too expensive for a book that will guide me through the first few years of Ellie's eating life.

**** The Author *****

Annabel Karmel is a leading children's author and an expert on child nutrition and childcare. She is a trained Cordon Bleu cook, combining research on child nutrition with her expertise on food. Her recipe ideas have been tried by babies and toddlers. She has three children of her own.

Just today, Annabel appeared on the show 'This Morning', with recipe ideas to tempt fussy eaters to eat fruit and vegetables.

***** Layout of the Book *****

The book is divided into 6 main chapters. These are:

*** Weaning your baby
*** 9 - 12 months
*** 12 - 18 months
*** 18 months - 2 years
*** 2 to 3 years
*** 3 - 7 years

Each section is divided into sub headings including recipe ideas, facts and advice.

There is a brief synopsis about each of these sections at the beginning of the book, which is a useful guide to each chapter.

There are also shorter chapters on:

** Early nutrition
** Healthy eating
** Food allergies
** Kitchen basics
**Menu planners

Each page in the book consists of sub-headings, written information and photographs.

The book is incredibly easy to read and follow. Relevant information can be found easily. It seems to include everything that you could possibly need to know.

***** Facts and Advice *****

The book is crammed full of useful facts and advice to help with every stage of development from babies and weaning through to school age children.

Personally, I have found that the information I have read so far has not only been very useful, but has been interesting as well. Although I have not started the weaning process yet, I already feel much more confident about how and when to do this. I also feel that I know which foods are the best ones to choose in order to give my baby a good balanced and nutritional diet. The information on how to prepare the food has also been extremely helpful.

***** Recipe Ideas *****

Every chapter in the book has some written recipe ideas to suit each stage of development. There are over 200 recipes in the book and there is even a section on family meals.

I have not tried any of the recipes yet, but they seem easy and straightforward to follow. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Each recipe follows the same structure and includes:
a list of ingredients, useful information (i.e. preparation and cooking time, how many portions it makes, the food groups that the recipe meets, whether it is suitable for freezing) and simple step by step instructions.

Some recipes are accompanied by a photograph. They sound and look delicious.

***** Menu Planners *****

The book includes a section of sample menus, divided into different stages of development. These include ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and in between snacks, with references to recipes within the book.

This is a great idea for a starting point and I will definitely be using the menus for the first 4 weeks of weaning.

There are also menu ideas for healthy snacks and party food.

***** General Impressions *****

Although at the very early stages of reading and exploring this book, my first impressions are very positive. I'm sure it will be a very useful guide and I have a feeling that I will be referring to it many times over the next few weeks, months and years.

Summary: A must read for first time mums.