When I first discovered Paris in the Spring with Picasso this summer, it was definitely love at first sight.
The title alone conjured up blissful images of a city bursting with creative energy, teeming with artists and bohemian types meeting at sidewalk cafés and salons, everyone in love with life and each other. Add to that dreamy vision Majorie Priceman’s wildly exuberant, free-spirited art, and I was a goner before alighting on the first page.
#24 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.
Animal prints available in three sizes may be purchased here.
To celebrate the launch of alphabet soup back in August 2007, I gave away a picture book called Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet by Gianna Marino (Chronicle Books, 2005).
After all, when considering soup books and alphabet books, Zoopa was one of my all-time favorites — it contained so many of the ingredients I wanted to serve up via this blog: fun, whimsy, gorgeous art, fresh perspectives, renewed appreciation for the alphabet, and of course, delicious food for thought.
In the world of children’s literature, there are alphabet books and there are ALPHABET BOOKS. Along with Carmine: A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet, Zoopa remains at the top of my list. This wordless visual feast, which begins with one tiny Ant eyeing up a bowl of tomato-y soup, and progresses with an entire alphabetical menagerie crawling, romping, leaping, trotting, splashing, and bounding all over the pages, inevitably begs repeated servings. Who can resist a mischievous chipmunk, a border of elephants cavorting on the rim of the soup bowl, a grasshopper wearing pink sneakers, or a monkey with green eyeglasses? Best of all, I love all the pasta letters floating around however they please in the bowl.
I was thrilled when Gianna contacted me a couple of months ago, asking if I had heard of Zoopa. Heard of it?! How do you tell an artist she’s created a book with your name written all over it, the contents perfectly evoking a vision you’ve tried for years to express in words?
She’s here! She’s here! Let the sweetness begin!
When I decided to devote the month of March to Cupcakes and Bake Shop Treats, I immediately thought of Jessie Oleson, a.k.a., CakeSpy. After all, her sweet and scrumptious blog is where I get my daily sugar fix. There, I feast on delicious interviews with bakers and pastry chefs, read about fun baking experiments, learn about bakeries all over the country, and of course, drool over the neverending stream of recipes, stunning photographs, and whimsical Cuppie art.
Are you in the mood for a deliciously plain vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting right about now?
Certainly hope so, because Charise Mericle Harper has stopped by to chat about Cupcake: A Journey to Special (Disney-Hyperion, 2010)! Seems everyone is crazy about this scrumptious, sparkly story that attempts to answer the question: Can a plain vanilla cupcake find happiness in a razzle dazzle world?
Kau Kau: the all-purpose Hawaiian pidgin term for food (derived from the Chinese “chow chow”).
I’m very pleased to welcome Arnold Hiura to alphabet soup today, not only because he has written a fabulous new book about Hawai’i’s culinary history, but because this interview has given me the opportunity to reconnect with an old college classmate.
Arnold and I were both English majors at the University of Hawai’i, where we took the same Shakespeare class in grad school. I was no fool — I made sure I sat next to him, hoping that some of his brains and writing talent would rub off on me. ☺
After graduation, Arnold taught English for a few years at Punahou, a prestigious private school on O’ahu. One of his students was none other than a certain Barry Obama. Fast forward to last December, when the Obamas were in Hawai’i for Christmas. They dined at one of their favorite restaurants, Alan Wong’s in Honolulu, at which time Chef Wong gifted the President with a copy of Kau Kau: Cuisine & Culture in the Hawaiian Islands. I love how things come full
circle — how small and friendly the world can be, how food brings people together.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 