First and foremost, a huge thank-you to all the kids who have shown that age doesn’t matter in the kitchen. You inspire us and constantly surprise us with your passion, excitement, and humanity.

There are also a lot of people behind the scenes who deserve a special thanks for their work on this book. Thank you to the Endemol Shine North America team: Thomas Ferguson, Ross Caputo, Ryan Ullman, and Tamaya Petteway; and to our publishing partners at Clarkson Potter: Raquel Pelzel, Andrea Portanova, Stephanie Huntwork, Sonia Persad, Erica Gelbard, Stephanie Davis, Joyce Wong, and Heather Williamson.

To baker and writer extraordinaire, Sarah Karnasiewicz: You deftly executed our vision for this book down to every fine detail; we are lucky to have had you on this project. To the man behind the lens, photographer Evan Sung, and his talented team—Vivian Lui and Kira Corbin—as well as our wonderful hand models, Aili and Erkki Forster and Luisa and Lucas Malvar, thank you all for your energy, creativity, and nimbleness.

A heartfelt thank you to our entire TV network family at FOX and to our MasterChef judges: Gordon Ramsay, Christina Tosi, Graham Elliot, Joe Bastianich, and Aarón Sanchez, as well as all the production teams and crew—you may never see them on TV, but they are as central to the show as our young chefs and judges. Special thanks to Sandee Birdsong, Avery Pursell, Mary Keledjian, and the talent culinary teams they have led through the years.

To all the former MasterChef Junior contestants (and their families) who responded with such generosity when we reached out with questions: Thanks a million! Your imaginative spirits and clever ideas are on every page of this book.

And a special shout-out to MasterChef Junior views and fans. We enjoy working hard to bring this show to life—we do it for you!

Keep watching…and keep cooking!