All the young children in this brightly colored-picture book are helping adults to prepare healthy and delicious foods - all in accordance with the Healthy Diet Guidelines of the USDA Simple text, including some rhymes, make the book easy to read, and will appeal to both kids and parents. We Like to Help Cook is distinguished by illustrations showing a multi-cultural mix of kids, as well as a few that include handicapped children in the activities and choices. Children help themselves or assist the adults by performing many age-related tasks, like pouring, shaking, washing, mashing and mixing - actions that most young children love to do. This book reinforces the message that children and adults can work together to prepare and eat healthy foods, such as: fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, low-fat milk products, lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and healthy fats and oils. Since young children learn by watching and doing, even toddlers can often help out in the kitchen with simple tasks . . . sometimes much more than we expect.

We like to help cook, all kinds of foods- good for our bodies and good for our moods.We wash our hands and find a place-one that is stable and one that is safe.With a grown-up in charge, we can do . . . or just look… We like to help, we like to cook.We can help by washing foods. . .like brown rice or white. Running the grains under water, we watch until the water runs clear. We like to measure things . . . whole-grain pasta for the pot. We can try all shapes and sizes: bowties, noodles or spirals.We like to mix . . . oatmeal with water or milk. Sometimes we add in other favorite foods, like raisins or nuts. We know how to mash . . . avocados with tomatoes. When the lumps are all smooth, we have a dip for our celery, carrot sticks or tortilla chips.We like to tear up. . . lettuce or other leafy greens. Lots of different colors make our salad like a rainbow¬-purple cabbage, yellow corn and bright orange carrots.We like to place things. . . like slices of fruit, to make a face on our plate. We can use apples, blueberries, bananas, grapes and pears.We like to toss . . . fresh salad vegetables with healthy oils like sunflower or olive oil. It's fun to use big spoons or tongs.We like to shake up or blend . . . With lowfat milk or yogurt we can help make a smoothie or milkshake. We like to crumble . . . low-fat cheese on many foods, like baked potatoes, wholegrain crackers or noodles.We like to rinse . . . dried peas and beans, which are full of proteins. We have so many choices - black-eyed peas, pintos, garbanzo beans . . . We like to watch . . . while grown-ups cook, grilling extra-lean meat, fish or skinless chicken. Sometimes we can guess what is cooking just from the sounds and smells.We like to work. . . help cook. . . and play. We like being active every day.