A Parent’s Guide to Nurturing Your Child’s Curiosity, Confidence, and Connection to Food
Written bestselling Montessori author, Junnifa Uzodike and award winning cookbook author, Kristen Miglore
The Montessori Kitchen is now available to preorder at the following retailers or wherever you most like to buy your books!
Indigo books (Canada)
Booktopia (Australia)
Audiobook available at Audible.com etc
plus other online retailers + your local bookstore
Translations to come soon!
About the Book
The kitchen is the ideal Montessori learning environment at home, and now award-winning cookbook author Kristen Miglore and bestselling Montessori author Junnifa Uzodike team up to create a hands-on guide for parents and children to play and learn together through cooking.
The kitchen is the perfect playground for children to tackle new skills and experience everything—the play, the science, the math, the magic—that preparing food has to offer. New groceries coming in and out. Colorful vegetables being washed and prepped and cooked. Different ingredients being scooped and measured and transformed, with so many points along the way to see, smell, touch, taste, and listen. And endless opportunity for conversation with their grown-ups.
The newest book in the bestselling Montessori series offers parents a new way to think about time spent in the kitchen with their young children, with over 60 delicious, nutritious, interactive recipes. The fun starts before baby is born, with nourishing foods for the pregnant and postpartum parent. The book takes parents through those early months in the kitchen wearing—and talking to—baby while prepping dinner, to creating baby and toddler friendly areas in the kitchen, to developing those first kitchen skills, eating together, and fostering their growing independence in the kitchen.
Children can practice scooping and pouring with Pantry Hunt Granola, exercise agency with Juicy Tomato Caprese, hone fine motor skills with Sweet Potato Gnocchi, and cultivate patience with Blueberry Yogurt Pops. And through it all, experience the Montessori way of growing and connecting in the kitchen.
Praise for The Montessori Kitchen
“This is so much more than a family cookbook. It’s a way to deeply nourish their stomachs, minds, and hearts in a Montessori way.” —SIMONE DAVIES, author of The Montessori Toddler
“A book for all of us who spend time with children. Yes, it’s about working with kids in the kitchen. And yes, you’ll want to make each of the nurturing recipes. But there’s a bonus: Everything you learn in The Montessori Kitchen will touch—strengthen and sweeten— so many other parts of your life.” —DORIE GREENSPAN, New York Times bestselling author of Baking with Dorie
“This is a valuable resource for families looking to nurture independence, confidence, and joy in their children. The introductory sections of each chapter are incredibly informative, practical, and family-friendly. They provide a thoughtful and accessible introduction to Montessori principles and our approach to engaging children meaningfully in everyday activities. The recipes are wonderfully child-centered: simple to follow, approachable for young hands, nutritious, and fun. Highly recommended!” —JUDI ORION, Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Director of Pedagogy
“The Montessori Kitchen is a beautiful comprehensive guide to helping children learn, explore, experiment, and grow in the kitchen. As a longtime superfan of both Junnifa’s Montessori series and Kristen’s Genius Recipes, I am so excited to see their work come together in this collection of thorough, practical tips and delicious, colorful recipes that will delight the whole family.” —MOLLY YEH, Food Network host and New York Times bestselling cookbook author
About the Authors
Junnifa Uzodike is the co-author of The Montessori Baby and The Montessori Child, international bestsellers that have been translated into more than 25 languages. Her second book, The Montessori Child, was the silver winner of the 2026 Nautilus Book Award. She is an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI)-trained Montessori educator with diplomas spanning every stage of development, from birth to age 18. She serves on the Executive Board of the AMI and is an internationally recognized Montessori leader, speaker, and advocate for children and families. She is the founder and head of school of Fruitful Orchard Montessori School in Abuja, Nigeria, where she lives with her husband and four children.
Kristen Miglore is a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and was the founding editor of Food52. After being nominated for a James Beard Award for Food52’s Genius Recipes column, she wrote the cookbooks Genius Recipes, Genius Desserts, and Simply Genius, all IACP Award winners. She contributes regularly to The New York Times and her writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, Real Simple, and The Atlantic. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and her favorite cooking teachers, her young daughter and son.