The Math Chef: Over 60 Math Activities and Recipes for Kids
Grade 4-6.  Cooking and math make such a natural combination that a book about both should be a real winner; unfortunately, that is not the case with The Math Chef. The recipes are interesting and tasty, and the directions, including safety precautions, are good; the black-and-white illustrations show both boys and girls involved in the process. In fact, as a children's cookbook, this title works well. The math is introduced and explained adequately, but its inclusion in the recipes seems more of an afterthought; for instance, when the concept of area is introduced in a two-page explanation, the only connection it has to the four recipes are that the sizes of the baking pans are highlighted. When weights are discussed, the weight equivalents (1 _ pounds [700 grams] of tomatoes) of the ingredients are given. Unlike Vicki Cobb's Science Experiments You Can Eat (HarperCollins, 1984), the math and the food preparation here are not interdependent. If you need another good recipe collection, this one is fine, but it will fare better in the cooking section than in the 510s.?JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.