children’s cookbooks

nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 8 Comments

“Fear not November’s challenge bold. We’ve books and friends, and hearths that never can grow cold. These make amends.” — Alexander L. Fraser 

1. Hello, November! We need a nice big bowl of homemade soup to warm us up. Do you think our badger friend will share some of his? I definitely think so. 🙂

When all feels chaotic and unsettling, escape to the English countryside with Emily Duffin’s charming watercolors. Based in Northamptonshire, England, Emily enjoys depicting the everyday lives of animals. Since she grew up on a small farm and currently lives in a village that has Shetland ponies (and a donkey!), it’s no surprise she’s endlessly inspired by the wildlife in her area.

After graduating with a Fine Arts degree from Northampton University, Emily worked as an estate agent for about a decade. She then met her husband who encouraged her to start drawing again. They moved into a beautiful old cottage with apple trees in the garden and a family of bunnies under the hedge — quite an idyllic setting for creative work.

They had a daughter, Molly, commissions were starting to come in, and she even received an invitation to illustrate a book. But after tragedy struck with the death of her partner, Emily’s life was upended for about a year.

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a scrumptious treat from the Blueberries for Sal cookbook

~ jama ~ 16 Comments

“Little Bear and his mother went home down one side of Blueberry Hill, eating blueberries all the way, and full of food stored up for next winter.“ ~ Robert McCloskey

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!

Sounds like Little Sal is tossing a few blueberries into her tin pail — and when I say “a few,” I mean the ones she hasn’t yet eaten, which number very few indeed.

As we all know from reading Robert McCloskey’s classic picture book Blueberries for Sal, this adorable munchkin simply couldn’t get enough of those tender juicy orbs while out berry picking with her mom on Blueberry Hill.

Can’t say I blame her: when I visited the Southern Coast of Maine ten years ago, I was finally able to try wild Maine blueberries for the very first time. So good! The lowbush berries like Sal ate are smaller and sweeter than the highbush variety widely available in supermarkets around the country. If I had gone blueberry picking with Sal and her mom, there wouldn’t be any berries in my pail at all. 🙂

I was positively giddy when the Blueberries for Sal Cookbook: Sweet Recipes Inspired by the Beloved Children’s Classic (Clarkson Potter, 2023) was released in June. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing this adorable collection, which is basically a baker’s delight.

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[tasty talk + giveaway] Cynthia Cliff on Pie for Breakfast: A Baking Book for Children

~ jama ~ 29 Comments

Good Morning. Please take a seat and put on your fanciest bib, because today we’re having Pie for Breakfast!

We’re so pleased to welcome Virginia author, illustrator and graphic designer Cynthia Cliff to talk about her debut children’s book — a beautifully illustrated picture book-cookbook featuring 13 scrumptious recipes for kids to make with their families.

Young Hazel, who loves to bake with her father, organizes a bake sale to raise money for the school library. She asks her friends to bake delectable treats to sell at the school’s fair, and they come through with international delights such as Pumpkin Empanadas, Basbousa Cake, Apple Custard Muffins, Mini Pineapple Truffles, and Nankhatai Cookies. YUM! 

Her friends and their families are a wonderfully diverse, multigenerational group working in their home kitchens, shopping at the grocers or farmers’ market, and harvesting produce from their own gardens. 

The recipes accommodate different skill levels and special diets (gluten-free and vegan), with directions laid out in easy-to-follow steps.

Cynthia’s charming illustrations are warm and folksy, brimming with details providing clues about the characters’ personalities and family dynamics. The final double page spread showing everyone at the bake sale gloriously celebrates the book’s overarching themes of food, friendship, diversity, and community. 

What a delectable reminder of how food connects and unites us — whether we grow it, shop for it, cook it, share it or eat it together.

Enjoy our chat — lucky us, Cynthia is also sharing a favorite recipe. 🙂

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[tasty review] United Tastes of America by Gabrielle Langholtz, Jenny Bowers, and DL Acken

~ jama ~ 3 Comments

 

Feeling a little peckish? What’s your pleasure?

If you’re craving something savory, perhaps we should zip on over to Illinois for some deep dish pizza and pierogies. Something a little more substantial? Well, we could feast on chicken fried steak in Oklahoma and bison burgers in Wyoming, before topping everything off with a platter of Norwegian meatballs in South Dakota.

What’s for dessert? May I tempt you with a slice of St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, Key Lime Pie from Florida, or some of South Carolina’s Buttermilk Pie? Oh, you want it all? Can’t say I’m surprised — I’d recognize your drool anywhere. 🙂

The good news is, we can sample all of these foods and lots more by simply digging into this new book, which takes us on a delicious culinary tour across the country — all 50 states + Washington, D.C. To sweeten the pot, we’re also invited to three U.S. territories: Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico!

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[review + recipes] Cooking with Bear by Deborah Hodge and Lisa Cinar

~ jama ~ 32 Comments

 

When the snow begins to melt and early morning bird song fills the air, everybear knows spring is coming. Time to yawn, stretch, wake up from long winter naps and get cooking!

Loud whoops and hollers erupted in the Alphabet Soup kitchen when Mr Cornelius and the other resident bears first saw Cooking with Bear: A Story and Recipes from the Forest, by Deborah Hodge and Lisa Cinar (Groundwood Books, 2019).

They were certain Ms. Hodges had written the book just for them, and with the fist pumps, prancing, drooling, and yes, page licking, it was all I could do to get them to pawse for a minute to take a breath. 🙂

 

 

Cooking with Bear is the companion book to Bear’s Winter Party (2016), where we are first introduced to amiable, good-hearted Bear. Since the other animals in the forest are understandably wary of him (sharp teeth, long claws, so big!), he spends most of his time alone. Bear decides to change that by throwing a party.

After sprucing up his den, he whips up some huckleberry tarts, honey-ginger cookies, and spiced cranberry tea. Deer, Beaver, Fox, Hare, Chickadee, and Squirrel all have a great time singing, dancing, and getting acquainted with Bear over his homemade treats. At party’s end, they leave Bear to settle down for his winter’s nap. Now he’s content that when spring arrives, he’ll have “a forest full of friends.”

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