Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer: A Golden Treasury of Classic Treats

I love cookbooks and when I read about Jane Brocket's collection of recipes from classic children's books, I had to get a copy. I have a small, treasured collection of cookbooks featuring recipes from classic children's literature: The Narnia Cookbook, Mary Poppins in the Kitchen, The Boxcar Children Cookbook, and The Little House Cookbook. Our family has enjoyed reading the books then cooking or baking some of the dishes mentioned in each story.

Through the years as we've read aloud various books together, we have also made meals from the books we've enjoyed. We've had toast and tea and cakes and Turkish Delight while reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We've had fish and chips while reading Good Night, Mr. Tom. We've had homemade whole-wheat rolls and goat cheese while reading Heidi. Ms. Brocket's book looked as though it would give us more ideas and maybe even a list of a few more books we hadn't yet read.

Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer is a marvelous collection of dishes and meals from a delightful list of American and British children's books. Some of the books and foods were familiar favorites for us, but there were also a lot that were new to us. The recipes are in British measurements, but for most of them, that doesn't matter. (There is a webpage that converts British measurements to American ones.) As always, Ms. Brocket's style of writing is so engaging that she made me want to re-read the books I'd read many times before. My only complaint is that I wish she'd written a 10-volume set instead of just one cookbook!

As in Ripping Things to Do, her other book based on favorite children's books, she includes summaries and selected passages from the books she chose. These made me hunt and buy some of the books we didn't have, and begin reading them.