I have the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, and although there's nothing very tween or boy about it, it does have some excellent basics (from easy to difficult) as well as good photos and techniques, etc.

My grandma got me a book when I was about that age called "Sam Stern's Cooking up a Storm: The teen survival cookbook." (Amazon: http://amzn.to/f15tsX) I used it through college even.In addition to having teen-friendly recipes, it teaches a lot of basics helpful for recipe development later on...

Added bonus: Sam's a Brit.

I am a big fan of How to Cook Everything for beginners of all ages. It covers the basics but also has much more.

Lol you leave out an important bit of information: are these 2 tween boys who *want* to learn to cook or more you being hopeful. If you're trying to nudge them to it, go to Barnes and Nobles and in the tween area they have a whole section of cookbooks geared to younger non-adults.
If they want to learn, the best cookbooks I got when I was young were basic "how to cook" type books full of simple kitchen tasks- how to properly chop an onion, how to bone a chicken, etc. Books geared to adults but very basic beginners. I find lots of kids cookbooks the way they're written and the recipes sound like they're being geared to a 2 year old. I'll never forget a kids cookbook I had with a recipe for a bologna sandwich. Seriously? I think a 12 year old knows meat+bread=sandwich. So if they want to learn, treat them like adults about it.

Whether it's for a kid or any other beginner, I'd have to recommend The Joy of Cooking. It's fantastic, and you can always find the right ingredients.

Well I didn't realize how many cook books we had reviewed till I started thinking about the answer... so here you go:

Dorling Kindersley's Childrens Healthy Fun Cook Book: What a fabulous book packed with real yummy irresistible food. My kids just couldn't resist a number of recipes in this one.
http://www.se7en.org.za/2010/03/25/se7en-reviews-dks-children-healthy-fun-cookbook

For basic cooking skills that won't need adult intervention to learn you can't beat: http://www.se7en.org.za/2009/01/13/the-celebrity-chef-reviews-the-ministry-of-food

And finally if your kids are potential foodies we have been working through the River Cottage Family Cookbook together this year and we have loved every single moment of it and we have learnt enormous amounts about food: making butter and yogurt for fun!!! The difference between free-range and organic and so on... http://www.se7en.org.za/the-river-cottage-family-cook-book-fun

I recommend easy peasy it is simple and covers all the basics http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Peasy-Real-Cooking-Kids/dp/0091868408

Although it's also not specifically for kids, I would strongly recommend Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." I have the vegetarian version and it's really wonderful. It contains basic recipes for almost everything, and lists and charts to teach you how put flavors together on your own and branch out when you're reasy. Great pictures of basic techniques and explanations of how to cook/find/store/flavor ingredients, too! And the cookbook will grow with them; my partner (with very limited kitchen skills/experience) and I (an experienced cook) both love it.

You might want to look into books aimed at college students who are just learning to cook for themselves. I have one that my dad gave me years ago called something like "The College Cookbook" and it details how to build a pantry and how to navigate a grocery store as well as including a ton of really simple recipes that are easy to build on.

The Starving Students Cookbook is a great one for beginning/budding chefs. It may not be ideal for a seven year old, but, it does have a bunch of easy to make recipes. If you're looking for a good starter book, this one may be for you.

http://cookbookman.com/2010/12/the-12-days-of-cookbooks-the-starving-students-cookbook/

My 11 year old boy loves cooking out of the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. It's not aimed at kids, but each recipe has a ton of pictures and every one he tries tastes great - which is very encouraging to a beginning cook. He is becoming famous for her lasagna and cinnamon rolls. . .

My husband introduced me to one of our standby cookbooks: Clueless in the Kitchen. It isn't anything fancy, but covers a lot of basics that make the kitchen more exciting, less intimidating. There are vegetarian recipes, lots of cheap eats, and menu suggestions for different occasions. Definitely check it out- the pie crust recipe is awesome, and has been a huge hit for me over the years.

http://www.amazon.com/Clueless-Kitchen-Cookbook-Teens-Beginners/dp/1552092240

Company's Coming Kids Cooking is one I used a lot when I was that age and one that sort of taught me how to cook before I took home ec at school, but I'm not sure if it's in print anymore. Used copies are definitely floating around the internet though.

Another vote for How to Cook Everything. As a college kid I learned to cook from it (combined with episodes of Good Eats), and it really does have the basics of almost everything, not just recipes but also techniques, preparation, ingredient lists, etc. It looks intimidating at first, but it's a really awesome guide.

The Silver Spoon for Kids is a good one for Italian cooking. More for children than for teenagers, I would think, but certainly great for a nine-year-old.

Hmmmm...I have teens and they almost never look inside the many cookbooks I have on my shelves. When they want to learn a new technique they hit youtube and for new recipes they either google or go to a few sites I've found to be reliable.

At age 9 they still would have been using cookbooks, but far less likely at 13.

Alton wins. He made me want to learn to cook when I was 12 or so (I'm 21 now and force my kitchen experiments on my boyfriend).

I really wouldn't buy Jamie for a pre/teen boy, here in the UK he is much loved but he's a) very establishment b) advertises supermarkets in TV commercials in which middle aged women swoon c) best known by kids for his school dinners campaign none of which are likely to appeal to boys.

The Extraordinary Cookbook by Stefan Gates might be a good choice - he presents a pretty mad TV show on food here aimed at young teenagers.

Since they're in England, the Alton Brown books are a good suggestion. He's a proponent of measuring by weight, and includes these measurements in his recipes. (He includes volume measurements only because his publishers told him he wouldn't be able to sell it in the US otherwise.)

Unless there's a UK version of How to Cook Everything, I would steer away from that. (And other books.) The volume measurements are going to mean a lot of math and figuring - which won't encourage more cooking!

I second what cara_mia says about weight measurements. My in-laws are English and barely know what a cup is (i was making cupcakes on our last visit and asked for a measuring cup and was handed a tea cup!), or what to do with american recipes.

"Freshman In the Kitchen: From Clueless Cook to Creative Chef" is a great beginner cookbook.
The cookbook begins with very simple recipes like making a dip to get kids in the kitchen and thinking more openly creatively (and not get overwhelmed) and gradually builds in difficulty with each following recipe and chapter. The whole idea is start at the beginning knowing nothing and end up making 3 course themed meals in the last chapter.

I am biased (and clearly a shameless self promoter) because I wrote it along with my brother Max but honestly, page for page I'll stack it with any introductory cookbook out there in any country. Written by 2 young guys, I dont see how it couldn't be a perfect fit for your boys.

I'm so confident they will love it that if they hate it, email us on our site and I'll refund your purchase.

You can order the cookbook (and email us) here:
www.freshmaninthekitchen.com