Veteran food writer Judy Jackson has been nominated for a World Cookbook Award for her book written specifically for children.

Lookit Cookit, designed for those over the age of six, aims to teach children about food in a fun way. Mrs Jackson, 70, tells People: “Most children’s cookbooks incorporate recipes that parents and children can do together. I wanted to write something that was aimed directly at the children.”

A grandmother of 11, Mrs Jackson shows readers how to make blue water with red cabbage and turn green apples pink in the microwave. “Children are often presented with food in an odd way. Some people cheat their children into eating fruit and vegetables. I’d much rather show them what they are eating.”

The World Cookbook finals take place in Paris next month (Feb). In 2007, her novel The Camel Trail won the Best Food Literature Book in the UK. She writes regularly for national newspapers, including the JC. Lookit Cookit is published by Marsons Books.