Sometimes recipes don’t quite work out. The kitchen ends up a mess. All the dishes are dirty and piled up. And there is some strange looking food that only a dog or a raccoon would eat (maybe).

That’s just about what happens in Angela Petrella and Michaelanne Petrella’s Recipe (McSweeney’s 2013).

It’s a mad caper of a picture book, perfect for that little kid who wants to take over the kitchen. The heroine, in the paintings by Mike Bertino and Erin Althea, is missing a front tooth and has a wild grin. Read it with your little chef but be warned that you might want to skip the manic recipe at the beginning. This crazy recipe includes 400 hot dogs, 20 bags of marshmallows, and a puppy (who doesn’t end up in the recipe at all). The recipe at the end of the book is for a candy bar in a smashed piece of bread – or have your reader make up their own recipe!