This is the second picture book in the ‘Tyler Makes..” series (book one was “Tyler Makes Pancakes”). Tyler is a young boy and budding chef. Together with his dog, Tofu (who is NOT a vegetarian as his name might imply), Tyler sets out to make a dinner of his favorite dish: spaghetti and meatballs. The chef at his favorite Italian restaurant is his guide. As in “Tyler makes Pancakes,” the author takes the reader out of the supermarket and directly to the place where the ingredients start: the farm and the garden. Without being preachy, the cute illustrations show how pasta is made from scratch, plucking the tomatoes from the vine, and showing a huge wedge of parmesan cheese before it is grated. A recipe is included on the last page. With humor and making it all seem very easy, any young person who likes to cook will feel ready and able to tackle a recipe for spaghetti or pancakes along with a request to start a garden of their own.
