Emalyn Bartholomew Capstone
The goal of this project was to make these books that people are so familiar with and love dearly come to life in an entirely different way. I read often, but it’s not everyday that you consciously try to make stories like these so much larger. I also hoped to create an interest in different books with different kids, and create an interest in storytelling. I wanted to make this cookbook attainable for kids of different ages, and make these stories accessible in a whole different way. Not only was this an expansion project for the audience, but it also forced me to experiment with forms of writing that were unfamiliar to me. Instructional writing is something that I had never done much of in the past, and felt very uncomfortable with at first. It took me many hours of pouring over different cookbooks, targeted at both kid and adult audiences, to feel comfortable enough to begin writing my own interpretations.
1. Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York: Collins, 1979. Print.
This source is one of the first books that came to mind when I began thinking of recipes to pull. While there isn’t a specific recipe that can be pulled, I have lots of ideas for things involving different kinds of fruit. This is also a great book to use because it is widely known and very popular among kids. Hopefully this will help make the book interesting and attainable to kids of many ages, as it will be a familiar story. I will have to be a little bit creative when it comes to creating a recipe, but I’m sure that I’ll be able to use all the fruit mentioned in an interesting way.
2. Carroll, Lewis, John Tenniel, and Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ; &, Through the
Looking-glass. New York, NY: Bantam Dell, 2006. Print.
This book is one of my all-time favorite stories. Not only that, but because of the animated film it is widely known and loved. While not so many kids will have read the book, they will still know the story and that makes it ideal. I’m hoping that including elements of this story in my cookbook will make kids more interested in reading the novel, which is one of my favorites. I am also hoping that this can bridge the gap between younger children and older children, which is another goal of my project.
3. Custer, Delores. Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food For the Camera. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print.
At first when I found this source, I didn’t think it would have much meaning for my project. As I continued reading, however, I realized how wrong I was. This book is beautifully put together, and gave me a lot of information about photographing food. This was something I hadn’t thought much about, but of course pictures of the finished product need to be included in my cookbook. I was able to take down some extremely helpful notes on food photography, that I’m sure I will reference when I get to that stage. I was not able to buy the book, but thankfully found it in Barnes and Noble to take notes from. I hope to find it in the library so I can check it out closer to the time that I’ll be taking pictures.
4. Forest, Heather, and Susan Gaber. Stone Soup. Little Rock, AR: August House LittleFolk, 1998. Print.
This was the first book that I thought of when I decided on this topic. Not only do I love the story- a sweet tale that teaches about the importance of sharing- but I have always been intrigued by ‘stone’ soup. I have since discovered that ‘stone’ soup is just vegetable soup, which was slightly disappointing but I am excited to make it nonetheless. This is the first recipe that I will find or create, and I am excited to think about which elements of the story to pull out when designing the book. I do hope that I am able to locate my copy of this book, but I’m sure it will be in the library should I need to check it out.
5. Gilletz, Norene. "The Right Way to Write Recipes." The Right Way to Write Recipes by Norene Gilletz. Blacksun, 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.
This source gives great detail on how to effectively write recipes. Writing the recipes was one of the things that I was worried about with this project, as it was something I had never done before. I had never heard of this author before, so I did a little research to make sure she knew what she was talking about. Gilletz has no less than nine cookbooks out, and is one of the top-selling cookbook authors. She is also a food consultant and a cooking instructor. I have no doubt that she knows what it takes to write recipes, and I found her tips both easy to follow and extremely helpful. I have no doubt I will be referencing this webpage often!
6. Jacob, Dianne. Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong, 2010. Print.
This was the first book that came to me in my search for how to write a good cookbook. This book came along with great reviews and recommendations, and I knew it was one I had to check out. Dianne Jacob is both a book editor and cookbook author, so I was pretty willing to trust her ideas. I was able to pull out several simple tips for writing good cookbooks, and I look forward to applying them when I get to this point in my project.
7. Marshall, James. George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.
I wasn’t familiar with this book before researching for this project. It came recommended by several families that I know and work for with young children, so I knew I had to look into it. I know there’s some great recipes I can pull out from these books, and I’m excited to begin the process of creating and experimenting with cooking. I do not own this book, but I was able to borrow it from a family that I work for. I do think this will be a good book to include for the younger children.
8. Numeroff, Laura Joffe., and Felicia Bond. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. New York: Laura Geringer, 2007. Print.
This source is an obvious choice when thinking of children’s books that highlight food. Cookies are always delicious, and I definitely they’re necessary for a children’s cookbook. Not only are cookies loved by children, but the book is as well. It’s a hugely popular book, and I think kids will be excited to see it included in the cookbook. I know that there are other books in this ‘series’ as well, such as If You Give a Pig a Pancake, or If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and I am considering incorporating those as well. I’m not sure if I will do that, but it is a possibility.
9. Ostmann, Barbara Gibbs., and Jane L. Baker. The Recipe Writer's Handbook. New York: Wiley, 2001. Print.
This source is one that came up pretty quickly in my search for recipe-writing resources. While I’m not quite at this stage yet, I think it’s definitely helpful to have on hand for when I get there. I don’t know if writing the recipes will be difficult for me, but I am anticipating that it will be very different from the writing that I am used to. Because of this, I’m trying to pull together as many resources as I can for support when I begin this stage of my project. I have no doubt that I’ll be turning to this handbook often.
10. Walker, Barbara M. The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Print.
This resource is incredibly valuable, because it is very similar to the project that I’m creating. Instead of pooling together recipes from different children’s books, however, this cookbook focuses on the Little House in the Woods series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved this series, and this source is a great mentor text for me to check in with. I think it does a great job at incorporating the stories into the pages, making the book feel very authentic. This is something I definitely want to achieve with my own cookbook, so I’m sure I’ll be referring to this one often.
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