By JANE LE SKAIFE

          Theresa Luu was a busy working mother of two when one day she realized that her son’s preference for chicken nuggets, like that of many other kids his age, signified a serious need to teach her children about the endless possibilities beyond the frozen food section of the grocery store.

          “Eating is something we do all the time, and it is something very essential to us and yet with this important thing, my son didn’t have a relationship to it,” she remembered. “So that was a wakeup call. I started thinking, ‘What am I going to do to change it?’”

          Luu, who admits that cooking was not her specialty, sought the guidance of a close friend and fellow mother of sons, Mirela Marku. She wanted her friend to teach her how to better prepare meals for her family and also to help instill a greater awareness of food and health in her two growing boys.

          What began as simple get-togethers to cook now has culminated in the publication of their highly interactive book, “Mother & Son Kitchen Book Club,” or MSKBC. This book goes way beyond just providing fun and easy recipes for mother and son to do together.

          Luu – the skillful writer and former elementary school teacher – and Marku – the engineer by day and seasoned chef by night – have creatively woven together an educational book that resembles a lesson-packed day in school. There are activities involving reading, writing, math, science and even artwork for each month of the academic year.

          For example, in March with the start of spring sports, mother and son are encouraged to read a featured book together, follow a recipe for spaghetti with meatballs, and more importantly, learn how spaghetti provides carbohydrates and meatballs provide protein for energy-starved athletes both young and old.

          Each monthly section then ends with a “What If” chart, a science lesson, and space for drawings and photographs. The “What If” chart is especially innovative in fostering critical thinking skills in young kids that are useful in any school subject.

          “Cooking is not about following directions step by step all of the time,” Luu said. “It’s trial and error. It’s thinking about what you are doing. What if we changed different things within the recipe? What if we used different cooking materials? What if we changed the ratios? There are a lot of ‘What If’ questions to get them to think beyond the steps, the 1 – 2 – 3.”

          It is clear that MSKBC is no ordinary recipe book for mother and son to simply follow. It is an extensive activity book that just happens to involve cooking and be truly fun for kids. Plus, the book’s archival, acid-free paper also provides an opportunity to turn the book into a treasured scrapbook that will be well-preserved over time.

          “It’s a special gift book to a young child – a gift of a mother’s time, a gift of reading, a gift of food and cooking – an activity book for kids to write and draw their thinking as well as space for photos or other mementos,” Luu said.

          MSKBC is a much-needed addition to the slew of existing children’s books that is part cookbook, part educational resource, part activity book, and part scrapbook, but all focused on building a relationship with food and increasing food awareness among kids. Illustrator Jon Cannell’s work supplements the content with interesting and information graphics.

          “They need to take part and be an active participant in the food choosing process and food cooking process,” Luu professed. “I always tell them, ‘You have one body. You have to keep it healthy. And keeping it healthy, you have to make sure that you eat well.’”

          A study in 1999 by Jayachandran N. Variyam, et al., found that a mother’s nutritional knowledge had a strong impact on children’s diets, but this influence unfortunately decreases as children grow older.

          Hence, mothers need to teach their children about the connection between food and health while they are still young and impressionable, especially considering that childhood obesity continues to be on the rise, according to the study.

          The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal the following facts that should be a wake-up call for all mothers:

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.


• The percentage of children ages 6 to 11 in the United States who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 20 percent in 2008.


• Similarly, the percentage of adolescents ages 12 to 19 who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent over the same period.


• In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.

          The book by Luu and Marku is just one of the many great educational tools that ultimately helps mothers teach their kids to be more conscious of what they are putting in their bodies and also to recognize healthier food options.

          While many kids might not even realize that arugula is actually a food, Luu proudly illustrated, “When we go to the grocery store, [our sons] help us. My youngest child is 7 years old. My oldest is 9. I’m able to say, ‘Can you go and help me find the arugula?’ or ‘Get me a zucchini.’ Most of what they know is through cooking.”

          For more information about the book, go to www.motherandsonkitchenbookclub.com. The book is available for purchase through Amazon.com.