Jovica Prasad

Grade 10
Beth Winfred
28 February 2022

MYP Personal Project: Creating a Cookbook

Planning

My learning goal:
When I was thinking about ideas for my
personal project, I was happy to know what topic I
was leaning towards. I have always been interested
in art and whatever I was doing, I wanted to do
something that would incorporate art into it. I have
always been known as the artist in the family since
I've been into drawing and art for more than 7 years
and still continue to love it. I draw almost everyday
during vacations and have folders and sketchbooks filled with drawings and there are painted
canvases framed all over my room. Art is something that has always helped me relieve stress and
takes my mind off things easily. Recently since the coronavirus pandemic began, I have gotten
into liking cooking and baking. My father would always ask me to make him some of his
favorites and since he loved my cooking so much, it struck an interest in me even more. I had a
few ideas in my head before for my personal project like, childrens’ story book with my
illustration, recycled paper from scrap, and a digital-drawn animation video about mental health.
After I found a fondness for cooking, I really wanted my personal project to include two things I
loved doing most, art and cooking, so that's when I came up with the idea of a cookbook for
teenagers that would include my drawings. This cookbook is created so other teenagers like me
learn to make some of the healthiest and best tasting dishes. My learning goal will be to learn
how beneficial cooking from a young age is. I also want to learn some of the most trendy recipes
for youngsters and contribute my learning into a cookbook for others.
Product:
I am hoping that my learning goal will help me learn more about cooking and also learn
about the variety of dishes that are easy but tasty at the same time. I hope that my learning goal
also helps me contribute my learning into a cookbook which can help others. When I decided
that I wanted to make a cookbook, I knew I didn't just want to make an ordinary cookbook for
adults. I wanted to make a cookbook for young learners but make it entertaining for them at the
same time. I wanted to make a cookbook for an audience that already loves cooking and also for
the ones who want to learn. There are youngsters out there who are not much into cooking
because of their lack of patience and practice, so I wanted to make a cookbook that would also
target this kind of audience. I want to make a cookbook where people enjoy making the recipes
and not think they’re wasting all their time in the kitchen. I also thought that there might be
many other teenagers like me that would love cooking gourmet food at home and my cookbook
could possibly help them.

Product Success Criteria:

When I was thinking about the success criteria for my cookbook, there were some things
I needed to keep in mind. I needed to make recipes where the ingredients were available for
everyone and I needed to make sure that the recipes have a decent time limit and don't take
hours. I also had to keep in mind that all the instructions had to be very clear. One more
important thing I had to remember at all times was that this cookbook was for teenagers so I had
to make sure to create my cookbook in a very artistic and creative way that will catch the
audience’s attention.

Product Success Criteria Details

Function My cookbook has to be clear and
understandable for all since this cookbook is
for youngsters. To make everything clear, I
will put non veg/ veg symbols. I will put red
for non veg, green for veg and yellow for egg.
To show the difficulty level of the recipe, I
will put an exclamation mark. If it's easy there
 will be ! and if it's slightly more difficult I
will put !!!. I also wrote how many servings
each recipe serves. I will make sure I have the
first few pages listing all the recipes for the
audience to read through. Under each recipe
name, there will be a text giving everyone a
small description about each recipe.

Aesthetics The aesthetics for my cookbook have to be

very artistic and eye-catching. Teenagers love
to see books with colors so I need to be
creative and make mine colorful. The font I
use will be formal but fun at the same time. I
will make the font size somewhat big because
I need to make sure I don't make my recipes
long and boring. The format for each page
will stay the same.

Recipes For the recipes in the cookbook, I wanted to

have recipes that included different cuisines
and different varieties in general. I wanted the
cookbook “to have it all”. I also want the
recipes to be easy and quick to make but
tempting at the same time. When I write the
recipes, I want to keep it short and sweet. I
also want to make sure I create recipes with
ingredients available for everyone.

Quantity I want to separate my recipes into two main

sections, savory and sweet. I want to have 15
recipes for each section so 30 in total. I will
have around 20-25 pages for each cookbook.

Illustrations For my cookbook, I want to somehow include

my passion for art so I will draw tiny and cute
cartoon illustrations for each recipe. There
will be 4-5 cartoon drawings for each recipe
relating to it. This will also help it look
eye-catching for teenagers.
Plan for Achieving the Product:
The easiest way for me to work and achieve on my product is through a timeline. So my
plan for achieving this product was by making timelines and following it. I had made two
timelines to finish my product. The first timeline was the main timeline which included every
single thing I had to do inorder to complete the product. The second timeline I made was just for
my reference. I made a timeline with all the recipe titles separated into chapters. I worked
through 1 chapter per day and as I got through each chapter and its recipes, I would check the
boxes.
For my main timeline, I started off with researching the recipes that would suit young
learners. I planned to research this for approximately 5-6 days from October 20-26. The second
step of my plan was organizing and I decided that I will work on this until the 5 of November.
The third step was testing out the recipes before using it for my cookbook and I planned to work
on that from November 8-18. The next thing I did was to look for cookbook names and slogans.
The most important step of my plan was the making of my product. The time span for the
making was planned to be between November 20- December 3. The next was the illustrations for
my recipes and I decided to work on that from December 5 -19. Once the product was made, I
had to finalize it and I planned to do that by December 21. The last step was printing my
cookbook and I had planned to print and keep the product ready by January 10.
Applying skills:
Achieving the learning goal - ATL skills - Research skills:
To achieve my learning goal and make my product how I envisioned it, I had to do some
amount of research. First I came up with research questions that could help my product turn out
how I expect it to.

Research Questions:
How is cooking from a young age beneficial?
https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/why-its-important-to-get-your-kids-cooking-from-a-young-ag
e_a_21607590
https://nortonchildrens.com/news/seven-skills-kids-learn-cooking/
Learning to cook from a young age is an advantage by itself but some other benefits of
learning to cook from a young age are that cooking helps heighten creativity, imagination,
independent thinking and responsibility. Another advantage is that cooking brings a feeling of
accomplishment for children and teenagers.
These are some of the main reasons that I wanted to make a cookbook for this age range.
I felt like people focus on making cookbooks mostly for adults, vegans, diabetic patients and
more but I don't think there is enough spotlight given for making cookbooks for the youngsters.
They are as important as anyone and as a matter of fact, I believe learning to cook from a young
age is better as we’re still growing and developing.
How to write a cookbook:
https://cookieandkate.com/how-to-write-a-cookbook/
Taking inspiration and learning from another cookbook author is one of the most useful
sources. This chef and cookbook author Kate has helped me write my own cookbook just as
amazing as hers. To write a cookbook, you start with the recipe list, research, write headnotes
and finalize details, test recipes, and edit.
It is important to know how to write a cookbook and follow its format. There are certain
things that are necessary for a cookbook to have and it is essential to know what they are.
Following her steps of writing a cookbook helped me make my dream cookbook display
everything neatly and orderly. All those few steps she listed were equally important and its what
made my cookbook whole.

What are the elements of a cookbook:

https://www.blurb.com/blog/10-tips-creating-cookbook/
Some of the main elements of a cookbook is that it needs a title, ingredient list, and
procedure. These elements will be in every cookbook but a few others that help make the
cookbook more interesting are a content page, headnote for every recipe, serving size, difficulty
levels, veg/non veg, egg symbols and chapters.
The content page helps the viewer see all the recipe titles in one place rather than flipping
through every page. A headnote for a recipe gives a sense of what the dish is going to be and
taste like. Serving size lets the viewer know how much the given recipe serves. Difficulty levels,
veg/non veg/ egg symbols lets the viewer know how difficult it is and what ingredients it has.
The chapters help keep the book organized instead of the recipes scattered throughout the book.

What makes a cookbook appealing for the younger age?

This question was asked to my peers and younger children.
The most common answer I got back for this question was drawings and illustration.
Since it's a book for the younger age, most children and teens want to see creativity in books.
They want to pick books that look the most attractive. People say don't judge a book by its cover
but sometimes the cover is just as good as the book inside and that's what I was going for.
Another common answer I got was to use photos. I wanted to incorporate photos and drawings in
my cookbook but that adding both together in one page would get messy so I used illustrations
and drawings for the recipe pages and at the end I displayed all the photos of the dishes I made
from the cookbook to show the viewers. Few other answers I got back to make a cookbook look
appealing were a fun background color, font, and font color.

Critical and Creative thinking skills:

When I completed my research, I understood how complicated it would be to create my
product if I didn't follow the processes outlined in my research. I realized that if I don't use the
research I did on how to create a cookbook and what the elements of a cookbook are to help me
make my product, I will struggle. I had to be creative and come up with sketches/drafts of how I
wanted my cookbook to look in order for it to be a success. The recipes were the second most
important aspect of developing my product. I needed to make sure that my recipes made logic
and were easy to grasp for everyone, including young children. While remembering all of this, I
also took side-by-side notes for all the crucial elements I needed to include in my cookbook.
Keeping side-by-side notes is still one of the most beneficial choices I've made because it made
building my product much easier. When I started working on the recipes, I kept a side-by-side
note as well, with all of the recipe titles categorized into chapters, and I checked the boxes as I
finished each one.
Being 100% honest, I didn't have much struggle or difficulty while making my product
expect one part. After all the recipes were written and typed into the document, I only had adding
my drawings onto the document left. My plan for adding the drawings to the document was by
using my drawing app to upload the document pages one by one and then I draw onto the pages.
Every screenshot from every device I took of the pages from the document turned out blurry and
were all bad quality. I struggled for a while when I was trying all the different ways I could add
my drawings to the document. Finally I just decided to draw my drawings with a transparent
background, download it as a png and paste it onto my document. This method was way more
efficient and simpler than the one I had in mind earlier.
Communication skills:
Communicating was a huge part of my personal project. I needed communication to
communicate to the readers and teach them how to cook. All the recipes together is what makes a
cookbook and since communicating is an important skill for my product, my recipes are the
number one focus for communication. Though the recipes were my main form of communication
for my product, other forms which helped convey my messages better were symbols and
summaries. Symbols were used for identifying if the dish was non veg/veg/egg and its difficulty
level. There were 1-2 sentence summaries summarizing the recipe giving a sense of what the
dish consists of. There were also other writings for different purposes. All the writing the
cookbook had was for the titles, chapters, recipes, headnotes, ingredients, and other bullet
pointed information. Communication skills were used throughout my product in a variety of
ways.

Reflecting:
Reflection: the impact of my project on my learning
When I first decided to create a cookbook as part of my project, other than the fact that
there were only recipes in the book, I had no idea how much more there was to learn. I learned
not only while researching, but also while working on my project. Not only did I learn about the
components of a cookbook and how one should be written, but also about how much more there
is to making recipes. There were recipes that I found designed for young children to make but a
big part of the recipes were designed by me. I had to keep my mind open and creative while I
used my learnings and likings to design the recipes. What I learned about the recipes was that
revamping them to my liking and potentially other people's liking is far better than following
someone else's recipe. When I redesigned recipes, my main focus was to make them easier,
faster, and, most importantly, more tasteful. The sources I used for making my product only
included two. Google docs and my drawing app, Adobe sketchbook. Google docs were used for
the written part of my project. I used Adobe sketchbook to draw the cartoons. Both sources were
extremely effective with its tools while I worked on my product, in fact now I know about more
tools to use for my other projects.
This personal project did not only help me learn about many things for this project, but
also for my upcoming assignments. Creating this cookbook will also help me cook for all the
times I feel impatient but want a tempting meal. While working on this product, I felt like I
managed my time well and used it appropriately. I never felt troubled or stressed while working
on my product. One main reason I felt that way was because of my research. It helped me more
than I hoped it would and it helped me make my cookbook exactly the way I envisioned it.
Combining two of my favorite hobbies was one of the best decisions made for my personal
project as I never lost interest while working.

Product Evaluation:
Product:
My final product was a cookbook made for young children above the age of 7. This
cookbook is meant for the younger generation to learn and make recipes equally delicious as
what adults make. The recipes are written in a very simple and understandable way. The recipe is
also designed in a way that when someone follows it, they can see that it is easier to follow,
quicker to make but still tasty. I divided my cookbook into two sections, savory and sweet, so I
made two cookbooks. The savory cookbook consists of 26 pages with 15 recipes and 5 chapters.
The sweet cookbook consists of 25 pages with 15 recipes and 4 chapters. Both the cookbooks
have 7 different formatted pages and these pages include the cover page, the table of contents,
chapter page, recipe page, ‘The End’ page, photos page, and ‘a message from the author’ page.
Each page of this cookbook is equally important in its own way and each has a purpose. One
thought that had to stay in my mind throughout the whole process of creating this cookbook was
that I have to keep it attractive. Since my audience is mostly children and teenagers, I have to
make it attractive and eye-catching. The recipes in there can be trusted as they are “Recipes Tried
and True” just like the slogan of my cookbook. The recipes in my cookbook are very simple with
a minimum of 4 steps and a maximum of 13 steps. The instructions are also very clear and neatly
phrased. The illustrations are drawn in a way that catches the eye of the viewer. I decided to draw
it in a cartoon style as this book is for the younger generation and we love to see animated
drawings. I hope my product helps other people make tempting dishes and also interests them in
cooking. I want my audience to know that there is no age for cooking if you put your mind to it.
Product Success Criteria:
Areas of Strength
All of the responses in the
survey that I sent out to my
peers said that my product
was understandable. The
writing was very simple and
clear.
In the survey that I sent out, I
asked if my product was
visually appealing to look at
and I got 66.7% as yes and
33.3% as somewhat.
In the survey, when I asked
the question if my recipes
were easy to understand, the
response I got was 100% as
yes. I tried to write the
recipes as simple as possible,
some even with less than 5
steps.
For both my cookbooks, I had
15 recipes for each. My
savory book had 26 pages and
my sweet cookbook had 25
pages.
While asking for feedback,
my peers said that the
drawings are very
eye-catching and definitely
makes the cookbook more
appealing.
Product Success Criteria Areas for Development
Function:
My cookbook has to be clear
and understandable for all.
Aesthetics: I think the response was
The aesthetics for my pretty good but I will take any
cookbook have to be very suggestions given to me for
artistic and eye-catching. next time.
Recipes:
I want the recipes to be easy
and quick to make but
tempting at the same time.
Quantity:
I want to have 15 recipes for
each section so 30 in total. I
will have around 20-25 pages
for each cookbook.
Illustrations: Few of my peers also said
I will draw tiny and cute that I could have drawn more
cartoon illustrations for each illustrations rather than
recipe. There will be 4-5 repeating the drawings in
cartoon drawings for each many different pages. I need
recipe relating to it. to have more patience and
draw more illustrations so
each page could have a
different drawing.
Overall evaluation:
Looking at my final product, I believe I created a good product and my personal project
was a success. I could have done a better job by adding more recipes and making it more
creative, but I feel like I did a good job for my age and skill level. There is always room for
development, and I will take the input I received and work to improve upon it. Overall, my
product came out just how I intended it to. I believe my product is visually appealing, from the
background color to the font to the writing. I'm hoping that my cookbook will be useful to
individuals my age. I'm hoping that this cookbook inspires all of the bored teenagers to try
something new. I'm hoping it will pique their attention and they can take on a new hobby. And
for those who already enjoy cooking, I hope this cookbook makes it easier for them to prepare
exquisite dishes that taste just as good as the hour-long dishes.

Product evaluation: Excerpt from my survey