Who knew that Who-Roast-Beast is a roasted chicken with mushrooms tucked under the skin? Who knew that Yot in the Pot is a soup with potatoes, tomatoes, corn, sausage, and clams? Who knew that Green Eggs and Ham is fried eggs with the yolks covered in guacamole and a baked ham with cilantro leaves glued to the surface with apple jelly?

Who knows a kid who would eat them — even with a mouse or in a house?

An awful lot of the recipes don’t sound like kid food — the Skipper Zipp’s Chops and Chips is baked pork chops and roasted potato wedges, Jed’s Bed is coconut-crusted shrimp balls, and Brown and Black’s Snack is cornbread topped with brown beans and black beans — or food that kids would have fun cooking. The desserts, drinks, snacks, and breakfast dishes look a lot more kid-friendly than the lunch and dinner recipes.

We don’t want to sound like the Grinch, but we also find the introductory verses that are meant to sound Seussian just sound silly. Consider the introduction to Brown Bar-ba-loots Truffula Fruits (strawberries dipped in strawberry yogurt): “Truffula Fruits are not readily found, but you can make your own version and discover why the Bar-ba-loots went Bar-ba-loopy for these uncommon fruits.” Or the intro for River of Nobsk Corn-off-the-Cobsk (seasoned popcorn): “What could be simpler than corn-off-the-cobsk, all popped and ready to season and eat? The Obsk suggests flavoring it with a spicy red cheese Thing-a-ma-Bobsk. Your tummy with throbsk with joy!”

Some of the recipes provide instructions for making everything from scratch, but also provide options for buying prepared foods and assembling the finished dish.

Despite its disappointing elements, if this book provides parents or grandparents with a happy afternoon or two in the kitchen with their little ones, it will be well worth it.