Cooking
Teachers recognize the value of cooking in the classroom—the math concepts used in doubling a recipe, the reading skills involved in following directions, the social skills of working cooperatively, not to mention children's satisfaction in making something for others toenjoy. Cooking that starts from a book can enrich children's experiences with literature.
Several collections of recipes reflect a literary genre, such as Beatrix Potter's The Peter Rabbit and Friends Cookbook. Karen Greene's health-conscious Once upon a Recipe alludes to many well-known children's books with recipes such as "Princess Peas," "Curiouser and Curiouser Casserole," "Mowgli's Tiger Milk," and "Curious George Slush." Kate MacDonald's The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook emphasizes Anne's favorite sweets, and each recipe is also accompanied by a quote and illustration. The Wild, Wild Cookbook and Acorn Pancakes, Dandelion Salad, and 38 Other Wild Recipes by Jean Craighead George tell readers how to prepare wild food as Sam Gribley did in George's My Side of the Mountain.
Several cookbooks would augment older children's reading of historical fiction. Barbara Walker's The Little House Cookbook features recipes for preparing all of the food that appears in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Quotes, historical notes, and Garth Williams's illustrations enliven the pages. In her collections of historical recipes, Hunter's Stew and Hangtown Fry: What Pioneer America Ate and Why and Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles: What Colonial America Ate and Why, Lila Perl explains how geography, history, and economics influenced what people ate. While historically authentic, the recipes in these collections use modern ingredients so teachers will not need to find a source for raccoon or skunk meat. All of these books are useful as supplements to American history and social studies as well.
Some books, such as Tomie de Paola's The Popcorn Book and Pancakes for Breakfast or Benjamin Darling's Valerie and the Silver Pear, include recipes at the end of the text. Making a cake with her Russian grandmother helps a little girl be brave during a thunderstorm in Patricia Polacco's Thunder Cake. Children would enjoy making their own cake after reading this story. Other books merely suggest to the imaginative reader a possible cooking extension. Young children have made their own sandwiches or soup after hearing Russell Hoban's Bread and Jam for Frances and Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup with Rice.
Older students enjoy literary "Book Fares" in which each person brings to the potluck something suggested by a book. Gurgi's "munchings and crunchings" from Alexander's Prydain series, Carlie's "Famous Mayonnaise Cake" from Byars's The Pinballs, tea made from an herb that Mary Call Luther might have gathered in the Cleavers' Where the Lilies Bloom, and Meg's liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches from L'Engle's Time Trilogy were some of the offerings at one party.
Cooking things with children based on stories they have read makes books memorable Cooking gives children a reason to return to a story to check information and a chance to make the book character's experiences a part of their own. Children who follow a recipe practice valuable skills such as following directions, measuring, and doubling a recipe. Teachers can encourage authentic writing experiences as well by suggesting that children explain how something was made, the cooking problems they faced and how they overcame them, where the idea for the recipe came from, and how it was significant to the characters in the story.

Quiltmaking
Quiltmaking has long been a way to conserve materials, save the past, and share the making of things. While we often identify quilts with pioneer women, quilts and the art of stitchery appear in many settings. Children could make small quilts with patterns and materials significant to them. Quilted squares might be displayed with writing that explains the material choice, the pattern choice, or other features. While a bound quilt of squares made by a whole class is a stunning presentation, children do not then get to keep their creations.
           In place of stitchery, many teachers let children design quilt blocks drawn on paper with special crayons that transfer when the child's drawing is reversed and ironed onto fabric. Other products such as "liquid embroidery" may be applied directly onto the cloth. Press-on interfacing can be used to fix materials to wall hangings or banners, and children can then sew on felt, buttons, lace, beads, or other materials. Quilts, banners, and hangings that reflect a theme the class has studied, such as favorite books, Mother Goose rhymes, pioneers, or things from the beach make a unifying final project. Children will then also be able to use the books they have studied for sources of artistic inspiration.
            During the period in American History in which slavery existed, quilts were used by African Americans as maps for routes to freedom. Several children's books celebrate this heritage.

Edwards, Pamela Duncan. Barefoot; Escape on the Underground railroadNew York, HarperCollins, 1997.
Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt.Illustrated by James Ransome. Random, 1995.
Vaughn, Marcia. The Secret to Freedom. Illustrated by Larry Johnson. Lee & Low, 2001.
Woodson, Jaqueline. Show Way. Illustrated by Hudson Talbot. Putnam, 2005.

Newspapers and Newscasting
By putting themselves in the role of reporters from newspapers or television news, children can "cover" the events in a book. An interview with Abel after his visit to Birmingham, Alabama, in The Watson's go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis might include what he experienced during the bombing of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church. A series of news accounts of the events recounted in The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill could present amusing battles between the mighty trucks and the puny pushcarts in New York City. Students could write Lyddie's first hand account of factory work in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s after reading Lyddie by Katherine Patterson.
           As a way of looking across or back on what children know in literature, teachers can help children organize a group newspaper. Sections could include news stories, editorials, announcements, a fashion or society page, sports, lost and found, letters to the editor, advice, obituaries, and so forth. Content could be drawn from a particular genre, such as realistic fiction or folktales. One folktale newspaper, for instance, featured an advertisement for "Big Anthony's Carry-Out Pasta: All You Can Eat!" along with a report on breaking-and-entering at the home of the Three Bears and a review of society doings at Cinderella's ball. It takes time to develop a successful newspaper, as children must sift through what they have to read to recall specific events. If column headings are posted around the classroom, ideas can be noted and children can paste up their rough drafts of articles for reading by the rest of the "newspaper staff." Parents, teacher aides, or high school typing students can often be persuaded to help with typing if the newspapers are to be duplicated for each student.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watson's go to Birmingham, 1963. Delacourte, 1994.
Merrill, Jean.  The Pushcart War. Addison-Wesley, 1964.
Patterson, Katherine. Lyddie. Dutton, 1991.

Reenactment
Students can gain a deeper understanding of a historical period by creating a reenactment of period times and events. Students at a Massachusetts school stepped into a live work of historical fiction when they participated in a reenactment of a Civil War encampment. Aided by a professional reenactment group, the students practiced battle drills, ate cornbread, lay on pallets, tried on period clothing, and even participated in an on-the-field court martial which resulted in a conviction of treason. If you do not have the resources to invite professional participation, students may benefit even more by researching and creating costumes, sets, and props themselves.