Snacks are a critical component of a happy road trip with kids. This clever device has five compartments, and its 6.5-inch size makes it ideal for little laps. The interactive spinner button adds fun.

Christopher Wilton-Steer A version of this article appears in print on July 27, 2025, Page 22 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: Up Close / ‘The Silk Road,’ by Christopher Wilton-Steer.

Silk Road/Westlake meals are always presumed to be family style, and the bill at Westlake came out to $18 each, $3 more than the highest we’d ever paid at the Road.