The Forest Feast for Kids: Colorful Vegetarian Recipes That Are Simple to Make

by Erin Gleeson

The Forest Feast for Kids includes the most kid-friendly vegetarian favorites from Erin Gleeson’s New York Times bestselling cookbook, along with 20 new recipes; ideas for kids’ parties; and easy-to-follow instructions for parents and children on techniques, measurements, and other helpful kitchen aides.

“A lushly photographed and illustrated cookbook for young gourmets.” — School Library Journal

Food blogger Erin Gleeson serves up kid-friendly vegetarian recipes that are quick, easy, and fun to make. Her full-color cookbook showcases the rustic simplicity of the fare through vibrant colorful photography of Gleeson’s beautiful home in the woods and of children cooking the dishes themselves. Each meal is simple and full of fresh and lively flavors that will appeal to kids. The natural beauty of Gleeson’s surroundings and the abundance of local produce serve as the inspiration for recipes such In addition to its recipes—spanning meals, party food, snacks, and beverages—this cookbook includes ideas for crafty table decorations, an illustrated guide on kitchen safety, and a glossary of culinary terms.

Featuring Gleeson’s own fanciful watercolor illustrations and hand lettering, this beautifully designed cookbook is perfect for foodies and parents looking for healthy recipes for children. It will delight fans of Gleeson’s blog and her bestseller, The Forest Feast , and any parent looking to inspire a child who shows an interest in helping in the kitchen.

“This eye-catching cookbook is ideal for young foodies.” ― Booklist

The Forest Feast
The Forest Feast
The Forest Feast for Kids
The Forest Feast Gatherings
The Forest Feast Mediterranean
The Forest Feast Road Trip

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Childrens, Juvenile, Adult

112 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2016

About the author

Erin Gleeson is the New York Times best-selling author of The Forest Feast, a vegetarian cookbook based on her blog of the same name, www.theforestfeast.com. Erin worked as a food photographer in New York City for several years before moving to a cabin in the woods near San Francisco in 2011 which inspired her blog and books. The Forest Feast is a unique cookbook/art book blend, featuring simple, colorful, vegetable based recipes that are presented visually, with minimal text. Erin's own photography, watercolor illustration and hand-lettering guide you through the steps to make each dish. The Forest Feast noterie line was released in 2015 with stationery items like journals and art prints (available on Amazon), featuring Erin's watercolors and photography. She is currently creating two more cookbooks that come out in 2016, The Forest Feast for Kids and The Forest Feast Gatherings. Erin also teaches photography at the college level and works as a freelance food photographer and illustrator.
Follow her @theforestfeast and at www.theforestfeast.com.

Reviews

[Cristina | Books, less beer & a baby Gaspar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the Portuguese edition. From aesthetically point of view, it is a 5 ⭐️ book. But, it uses too much cheese in the majority of the recipes, in the end they are not as healthy as they should be, but definitely they are easy, with no hard to find ingredients, very pleasant to the eye and kid friendly. I will be doing a couple of recipes from the book soon and then I'll update my review.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photos and art work. Foods I would love to try but I am pretty sure the kids i know wouldn't eat most of these. I would be glad to be wrong about that opinion.

[Julie Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is beautifully laid out and has easy to follow directions, most of these are not appealing to the average kid. Now if you are vegetarian or vegan and have been raising your kid as such, then this might be great. My kids did like the smoothie and juice ideas but thought sweet potato pizza sounded weird. They gave me an eye roll for the Lemon Ricotta Crostini with Honey and asked (lol, I know from the mouth of babes) Is that what people in California eat? About the Edamame Hummus. I thought the Red Salad was trying a bit to hard, combining bell pepper, radish, onion, dried cherries, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate, and Apple (all red, of course). With only 40 recipes, half or which are previously published, it feels like a rip off.

2 1/2 stars

My 11 year was confident he could make all of the with little to no assistance. My 7 1/2 year old felt he could do most. The grilled cheese, pizza and Pear Gallette (and a few others), he said he would need help (so glad he knows his limits and won't be trying to burn the house down). They both didn't understand why some recipes were included like Minty Fruit Kabobs (that are, you guessed it fruit and Mint leaves on sticks), French Radishes (radishes topped with a dollop of butter), and Yellow Caprese Bites (cherry tomatoes, basil leaf, mozzarella ball on a stick). They spend time in the kitchen though. I did explain that some kids were brand new to cooking or maybe had to learn themselves. These would also be a confidence builder in a, I did it all by myself sort of way.

So it depends on who you are if this book will work for you. For the price tag I expected more.

Happy Reading :)

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ravishingly beautiful book, with wonderful visuals and styling, full of recipes that my kids will never want to make, let alone eat.

[Maren Prestegaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just gorgeous. This is one to buy.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book & illustrations, really captivated H wanting to cook and make food. we tried the apricot bites...delicious

[Jordan Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aesthetically pleasing pictures makes it fun for adults and children to explore flavors together!

[Sarah Nealy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very colorful and easy recipes that look and sound delicious!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated with simple instructions and colorful pictures. This would be a great book for any child interested in learning how to cook. The book starts with tools and techniques and ends with party menus. A beginner can start with something as simple as beverages before moving into knives and heating units. Some items may not appeal to a typical kid, but hopefully the prep process will entice them to try something new made with fresh ingredients.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, albeit super bourgie, veg cookbook aimed at kids. Frankly it could/should also be marketed toward lazy adults, especially since I'm not sure how much of this fare appeals to actual children. I will definitely try some of these recipes (especially some of the drink recipes, aged up) but it's not a cookbook I plan on buying. I found the overall design kind of annoying, but I can definitely see the appeal.

[librarydiaries · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many things I loved about this cookbook:
- the pretty water colour paintings and typography that were paired with an image of what you could be cooking
- the messaging on how you don't need a lot of ingredients to cook something both fun and delicious
- each recipe spans both left and right pages, making it incredibly appealing to look at
- I didn't know what the cutting technique "chiffonade" was until I read this book for kids, now I know how to chop basil more effectively LOL
- author offers so many recipes that would be easy and affordable to prepare for a lunch/dinner party without having to compromise the quality - aesthetic sort of reminds me of Kinfolk recipes, except with a much larger splash of colour
- My fav recipes in this book: french radishes, lemon ricotta crostini with honey, strawberry salsa, watermelon salad, quinoa edamame salad, bay potatoes, red salad

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for my niece for her birthday. She is a tween and has recently decided she wants to be vegetarian. She’s made several recipes from this book and now has a few she has made a few times. She is having fun helping cook meals for the family from this book. The ingredients for all of the recipes are simple ingredients that are easy to find in most grocery stores. Unlike many cookbooks marketed for kids this cookbook has many recipes that many kids with unadventurous food tastes who are picky eaters will actually be willing to eat. She likes that the recipes in this book are easy enough for her to make herself as she is just now starting to learn how to cook.

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve seen by Erin Gleeson, although now I want to look at her cookbooks for adults too. This is probably the most beautiful cookbook I’ve ever read, with the calligraphy, tiny watercolor drawings, and the all-on-one-page recipes which could almost be framed and put up in your kitchen. I enjoy the simplicity of the recipes (to make it easy for kids or for art purposes? Or to make it easy for beleaguered parents trying to make healthy food for kids??) and I’m hoping Gleeson’s adult cookbooks are similar.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how many recipes I’ll be making, but this cookbook is absolutely gorgeous! The watercolor and close up photography is great! (my biggest complaint with cookbooks is when they don’t show the final product for every recipe and this cookbook places the final product front and center and mixes photography and watercolor to show the making of it well). The recipes are super simplistic, which is great for kids. They might just be pretty enough to convince kids (and picky adults) to give a few a try!

[Whitney Pittsenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to get this after seeing the original Forest Feast and Forest Feast Gatherings books. I had really high hopes for this book. And although it has a few cute ideas and pictures. The recipes are not very child- friendly , either in making them or what they eat, to me. And the pictures were lacking compared to the other books. I still have yet to find a recipe in here that we'd use.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Erin Gleeson's cookbooks--the recipes really are super simple, and the books are just so pretty! This one has a few repeats from other cookbooks of hers, but it's still a very fun collection of really basic recipes. I also like the idea of kids just making French radishes for fun. I mean, it totally sounds like something I would have been into as a kid (if I hadn't been obsessed with spinach with mayonnaise instead).

[Roxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. It has a gorgeous layout and presentation. Full of simple, healthy and delicious recipes. A little on the thin side for the price. The only negative for me was that a lot of the recipes contain nuts, so for those with nut allergies there would be a lot of alteration and substitution.

[Karen Cockerill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rating this book three because I love the layout and was surprised to enjoy one or two of the recipes that looked rather different (avo smoothie for one). However not convinced on some - like the radishes. We are trying to maintain a mostly gluten/diary free diet which rules it the bread, pasta and crust recipes. I did however love the drinks.

[Anuradha Baliga · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book on a fellow mother's group recco for cooking with kids . But I realised my 4 year old wouldn't eat most of these . The recipes are simple and visually appealing photos make this a pretty book . This could definitely be used with an older kid who can follow guidelines and self cook . The recipes by themselves are easy and basic

[Meg Mirza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious, colorful, vegetarian-friendly snacks with kid appeal. I was hoping that there would be a more fanciful, fairy and elves type theme, but anyone looking to vary their palate with some healthful choices will find this edition a boon to their kitchen. The full-color photographs of the author's gorgeous forest home make this a fast and easy read.

[Bibi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art & photography like her other books. The recipes however weren’t all super child friendly, at least not for the average kid. I did like how fruits were incorporated into the recipes, but that’s not really what most kids struggle with. I was looking for recipes that I could sneak in more veggies. Lol.

[Flalalaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate the pictures of the ingredients next to its name, small detail that makes all the difference!

It really depends on how picky the kids you are making these for are, my little cousins were pretty split in their opinions (neither were raised vegetarian but I got many ideas from this cook book on how to introduce more veggies to their meals)

[Cynthia Ayyad · Rating 2 out of 5]

These aren’t really kid recipes. They more fancy meals for grown ups. Also, it’s a rehash of other books. No new recipes. You can just go through your other Forest Feast books and have the same recipes. (Side note … I rated her other books 5 stars because the recipes are great, just not what the average kid will eat).

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vegetarian Dishes Made Easy, Appealing, and Yummy!

These look totally doable, and look yummy and palette pleasing too, and not so sophisticated that my toddler wouldn't touch them! A great cookbook that I will be adding to my collection!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear, colorful illustrations and photos. The recipes are simple and easy to make. Most children will need adult help only with cutting and chopping. I copied six recipes to add to my recipe file. I can't wait to try the Bay Potatoes.

[ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything looks amazing...

...not just beautiful! i can’t wait to make these recipes for my boys! yum! glad library had this digitally...now to decide if i want the hard copy or kindle version!

[Sarah Colwill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully photographed book with recipes that are designed for children to be able to make on their own. Recipes include snacks, drinks, salads, meals, sweets and parties. This is a good resource to encourage healthy eating and including children in the kitchen.

[Ariel Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s impossible to rate a cookbook you haven’t cooked from. And yet... the food photography, watercolor illustrations, and overall aesthetic are wonderful. I’ll need to revisit my rating once I’ve tried a few recipes.

[Allanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really intriguing recipes. I might have to pick up my own copy of this.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful book. Can't imagine kids making or eating most of these things, but I might try the Rainbow Chard Quiche, Butternut Quesadillas and Sweet Potato Pizza.