[Recommended for Summer Projects] Gakken Releases Children's Cookbook: Learn About Seasons While Cooking

Gakken, a group company of Gakken Holdings, released 'Delicious and Fun! First Kitchen,' authored by culinary expert Misa Enomoto, on May 21, 2026.

● A Book to Learn About Seasonal Ingredients and Events While Cooking This book is designed for children to learn about seasonal ingredients and events while tackling cooking. Featuring illustrations on every page and furigana (reading aids) for the text, it is easy to read for children who are new to the kitchen. Beyond recipes, the book touches on seasonal food characteristics, such as 'What vegetables appear in spring?' or 'Why do winter vegetables taste sweeter?', helping to expand interest in food.

[What children can learn] ● Important cooking basics (preparation, basic tools, tool usage) ● Basic vegetable cutting techniques ● Cooking rice, preparing dashi (soup stock) ● Seasonal cooking recipes ● Traditional event recipes (chirashi-sushi, kashiwa-mochi, tanabata somen, ozoni) ● Experimental preservation recipes (plum syrup, strawberry jam, miso) ● Pages dedicated to seasonal ingredients (seasonal columns, changing vegetable flavors, seasonal fish)

In an age when various ingredients are available year-round, the book aims to foster experiences that allow children to feel the seasons through food—such as spring onions, summer tomatoes, or winter vegetables that grow sweeter—by combining cooking and food education.

● Detailed explanations with process photos for worry-free cooking Recipes are introduced with clear, detailed steps so children can cook by themselves. Every recipe includes process photos, allowing even beginners to check the workflow as they proceed.

● Traditional event recipes to cook with parents Recipes for occasions such as Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day) chirashi-sushi, Tango no Sekku (Boys' Day) kashiwa-mochi, Tanabata, and New Year's ozoni are included. Cooking these dishes allows families to naturally touch upon food culture and seasonal traditions.

● Recommended for summer research projects! Preservation recipes like plum syrup, strawberry jam, tomato ketchup, and miso allow children to observe changes over time, acting like a science experiment and serving as great themes for summer research projects.

[Author Profile] Misa Enomoto: Culinary expert and fermentation meister. Her YouTube channel, 'Misa Enomoto's Seasonal Cooking,' has over 400,000 subscribers (as of April 2026).

[Product Overview] 'Delicious and Fun! First Kitchen: Learn About Seasonal Ingredients' Author: Misa Enomoto List price: 1,870 yen (including tax) Release date: May 21, 2026 Format: B5, 128 pages E-book: Simultaneous release ISBN: 978-4-05-802677-9 Publisher: Gakken