I purchased this book when my daughter was 6 months old as she was not happy with the smooth consistency of baby food. This book has been a lifesaver. There is a wide variety of easy to make recipes with items (such as parsnips) that I would not have thought that my child would like, but does. As she gets older, there are recipes and suggestions for up to the age of 5, including tips for reluctant eaters. She walks you through preparing your own baby food and how to freeze them. She tells you which recipes you can freeze, how long it takes to prepare and some nutritional information. I love this book and my daughter loves the recipes too.

I would not recommend this book. First, in several recipes Karmel is adding sugar or maple syrup. One reason people make their own food is to avoid just that! Secondly, she has a recipe introducing peanut butter at age 6-9 months. Some experts will say not to feed peanut butter, peanuts, or even peanut oil until atleast 3 years of age; while others say the baby should be atleast 1 year. I must say 6-9 months is very early for such a highly allergic food. A reaction from peanuts is quick and could be deadly! Another thing that was troublesome was she doesn't mention that feeding foods like spinach and carrots can cause a form of anemia in children. I guess it is due to nitrates in the soil. Baby food companies are aware of this and test. Other baby food books I have read recommend you wait on making (and buying them already prepared) these ingrediants until a certain age. The American Academy of Pediatrics will back this one up. The book is pretty, it is simple to read. But I think the author needs to continue her research.

I love this cookbook. I agree with some others about when to introduce certain foods is not well researched. This is a great addition to Ruth Yaron's Super Baby Food Book though. Ruth Yaron does not have any meat recipes. I wanted to feed my children meat, so this gave some great interesting recipes. Learn when to feed from Super Baby Food, and use this book for great recipes.

I wanted to prepare healthy meals using mostly organic ingredients for my baby once she moved beyond pureed food. From the onset, I was stuck. This book saved me. The recipes are easy, the food combinations delicious, and most of all, my 10-month old has loved every meal I have made so far. They are so basic, healthy and really tasty. I do ignore some reccomendations (introducing liver, for one) and stick to foods that I feel she is ready for. Another great feature is that the book offers guidance on freezing techniques, reheating and food preperation, which is very helpful.

Starting out on solids is both exciting and scary - baby cereal and organic jar food was the way I chose to begin w/my son at 6 months. At 8 months, with a boy who would eat everything, it was time to escape the blandness of the Jar and move to homemade cooking. This book is fantastic. You realize it's not that hard to give your child fresh food if you can freeze it. In fact, for my second child I hope to skip the jar food completely. This book teaches you what to feed your child and when (ages). I love the color pictures. Some recipes are pretty complicated and some directions are not detailed enough but in general this is the idiot's guide to cooking for a child. For me, a working mom (55 hours a week) and a terrible cook, this book was the confidence builder I needed to escape those terrible jars. I hate to think about feeding my son jar food now. And if you have a full-time caregiver, this is a great tool for her too! My nanny now cooks a bunch of meals each week and freezes them for our meals.

I own both this and the famous "Super Baby Food"; I refer to this book much more often. I find the color photos to be helpful in determining food consistency and the book is organized clearly and simply--by the age of the child (e.g. 4-6 months, 6-9 months, etc.)--without a lot of useless information interferring. I also like the creative ideas on which foods combine best--offering both good taste and good nutrition.

I especially appreciate that it includes foods for children younger than 6 months--my 16-pound 4-month old obviously didn't read the books that said he wasn't ready for food!! Thanks to Annabel Karmel's tasty recipes, my baby screeches in anger when the bowl is empty.

Being a new mom I didn't know a lot about feeding a baby. I, of course, started with jarred baby food because I didn't know any different and I thought that these women who made their own baby food were a little overzealous in giving their baby's "only the best". I thought it was a great waste of time since everything I'd read said that the jarred stuff was perfectly fine. Then I had a friend send me this book and everything changed.

I didn't even open the book until my baby was 8 months old (right around the time I started getting really bored with the jarred baby selection) and now I regret that move. I discovered how easy these 6-9 month recipes were to make and it opened a whole new world of foods for myself and my baby. My baby had no problem adjusting to the new textures that went from strained jarred food to mashed/pureed homemade food. The recipes are great mixtures of fresh ingredients that jarred companies would never dream of putting together. My baby especially liked the avocado/banana puree.

I was still a little skeptical about some of the foods that were introduced in the 6-9 month section until I went to my pediatrician at my baby's 9-month check-up. I asked the doctor what kinds of food I should be feeding my baby and he gave me a list of books that I should get to help ease my confusion. Wouldn't you believe that of the 15 books recommended one happened to be "The Complete Baby, Toddler, & Child Cookbook:A Parents Guide To Healthy, Tempting Foods for Babies, Toddlers and Young Children" by Annabel Karmel.

I would highly recommend this book and am extremely grateful to my friend for introducing it. My baby likes almost everything I've made and I am no longer bored with my selections. All you need is a steamer and a blender and you're on your way! I am now moving on to the 9-12 month section and am really excited about the new recipes. Can't wait to get through the rest of this book!

The book is bright and cheery, with helpful suggestions on feeding babies and toddlers. However, since the original version was published in Britain, I suspect some of the measurements were not converted correctly. (1/2 TEASPOON of Tomato Puree in a meat sauce??)