FAIRY TALES FEASTS
with Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Pillippe Beha
Interlink Books 2006
hardcover
ISBN 1-56656-643-6
I had never written a cookbook before, maybe because I am (alas) a lousy cook. Part of that comes from being an impatient sort (except with writing) and hating to spend lots of time working on a meal which is then eaten in minutes. But my daughter Heidi is an excellent cook, and loves being in the kitchen. So we decided to do a cookbook together--she doing the recipes and me telling the stories. What a joy it was--especially the testing part where we all had to eat her cooking. Since this was a book for children, she cooked with her two daughters, and lo! They balked after the seventh day of eating chocolate mousse. Who would have ever predicted that. But not to worry, the teachers at the Smith College Campus School, where her youngest daughter was a student, gallantly volunteered to eat up and rate any new desserts. And so the book was finished on time!
Oh yes--I finished my retelling of the fairy tales in time, too. I may be a lousy cook, but I CAN write!
Awards: iParenting Media Award, White Raven catalogue of the Munich International Book Museum, which chooses 200 books out of 5000 annually submitted to them.
What reviewers have said:
“For a really nice idea wonderfully fulfilled. . .”--Kirkus
“This collection of 20 fairy tales, each accompanied by at least one recipe, is an oversized, glossy concoction. . . .The recipes include tasty-sounding dishes like Very French Toast (to go with the French folktale Diamonds and Toads). Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert are all represented. . . .Sidebars throughout give interesting facts about the stories and the recipes. Yolen's knowledge of folklore shows in her tidbits about the tales and their origins. Many of the food facts are intriguing, too. For instance, alongside the Stone Soup recipe is a note that Al Capone set up Chicago's first soup kitchen. Beha's illustrations, with bright colors and bold, simple lines, are set off by lots of white space, adding to the appealing and accessible look. . . .A fun book for family sharing.” —School Library Journal
“”FTF is a delight. . .This is a book made with care, the stories demanding to be read aloud, the picture stufied minutely, the recipes brought to steaming life with the help of little hands. For gifts or the home kitchen, a beautiful an worthy winner.”—www.straight.com/
“No matter the fate that awaits the fox that stole the grapes, the monk who made Stone Soup or Little Red Riding Hood, the stories in Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters (Interlink, $24.95) have happy endings: recipes. Jane Yolen -- a prolific and much-honored fantasy, science fiction and children's author -- shares 20 classic childhood stories from many parts of the globe, with a type size and brevity that invite reading aloud. Illustrated by Philippe Beha, the book includes margin notes from Yolen shedding light on the stories' origins, alternative versions and lore about the main ingredients. The doable recipes by Yolen's daughter, Heidi E.Y. Stemple -- breakfasts to desserts, including Brer Rabbit's Carrot Soup and Little Mermaid's Pasta Shells -- have age-spanning appeal, laying out details for equipment and serving suggestions. What else would you do after midnight with a retired coach, asks the introduction for the recipe that follows Cinderella? Make pumpkin tartlets, of course.”-- The Washington Post
“A creative book, which folds fairy tales into a cookbook of kid-friendly recipes…Yolen retells them with her usual verve and ease…the resulting dishes, as well as Beha’s spare, whimsical spot illustrations, will capture children’s fancy. Detailed marginalia greatly enhance both the folktales and the food sections of this charming offering that the whole family will appreciate.—Booklist
“Kids and parents will find it an outstanding collection. Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers & Eaters pairs recipes by Heidi E.Y. Stemple with tales retold by Yolen and illustrations by Philippe Beha. The food focus provides a lively collection pairing sidebars about the stories' creation and food history with recipes and classics.”—The Midwest Book Review
“Fairy Tale Feasts, by the esteemed Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi E.Y. Stemple, is billed as ‘A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters’ -- and that's precisely, deliciously, what it is. Jane and Heidi look at food in folklore and fairy tales, throw in some magical recipes, and round out the book with charming illustrations by Philippe Beha.”—The Endicott Studio for Mythic Arts
"Lively, colourful illustrations by Montreal's Philippe Beha are shown to advantage on the glossy paper. And the use of marginalia - bits of trivia and information laid out alongside the stories and recipes - adds much to the enjoyment of this book. Highly recommended.—Montreal Gazette
“The food focus provides a lively collection pairing sidebars about the stories creation and food history with recipes and classics. Kids and parents will find it an outstanding collection.”—Children’s Bookwatch
“The author brings her usual wit, charm, and scholarship to this amuse-bouche of a book, making Fairy Tale Feasts deliciously entertaining for children and adults of all ages. Heidi E.Y. Stemple’s child-friendly recipes, tested with and by her own daughter, Maddison, are entertainingly delicious, and Philippe Béha’s wonderful and unusual illustrations are the icing on this mouth-watering treat of a book.”—I-Parenting
Veteran storyteller Jane Yolen retells the tales. Her daughter Heidi E.Y. Stemple provides the recipes. Phillippe Beha drew the fun, and naïve yet sophisticated illustrations, reminiscent of Paul Klee. The front paper has wonderful pictures of small witches playing with giant turnips, apples and pears. They must have had a good chuckle cooking up this book.”—Super Chef http://www.superchefblog.com
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