Our seven year old granddaughter, Kira, ran up to me on our last visit and held up a cookbook. "Let's make breakfast," she said.

In the kitchen, Kira opened her cookbook to a recipe for Pretend Soup. It was divided into nine simple steps. Each step appeared in its own little square on the page. I was amazed at how easy it was to follow the recipe.

Without any help from me, Kira got out orange juice, yogurt and other ingredients as well as a mixing bowl and spoon. Then, following the recipe, she quickly created a delicious breakfast for the whole family. She had never made the recipe before but she did it in about fifteen minutes with no trouble. Even then, probably half the time went to chatting about school and friends rather than directly into cooking.

The name of the cookbook is Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson. Katzen is the author of the famous Moosewood Cookbook. Charmingly written and illustrated to make each step understandable and simple, Pretend Soup is the sort of book that any grandchild, from preschooler to ten-year-old, would love. The recipes make delicious dishes that grandparents, parents and siblings will enjoy tasting. Besides the recipe for Pretend Soup, there are such recipes as Number Salad, Bright Pink Fruit Dip and Green Spaghetti. As you can see, the names are fun and interesting.

If you've read Seven Activities You Can Do with Your Grandchildren When They're a Thousand Miles Away,you'll recall that cooking is something you can do together over the phone. This book is excellent for that purpose. It makes cooking fun.

You can learn more about Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson at Amazon.com or at your local bookstore. I think it will delight you as much as it did me.