Lois Ehlert: Pie in the Sky

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Lois Ehlert has figure out that collage works so much better than paint or pencil to tell the story of food. It captures the texture of things, as well as color, and makes them more three dimensional, even if they are photographs of texture. Her books are bright and vibrant and full of exciting imagery to tickle the palate of little children. Her latest food book, Pie in the Sky (Harcourt 2004) is a bright, fun book about a cherry tree and making a cherry pie. The bark of the cherry tree is rippled cardboard. She makes petals and birds from various pieces of cloth and paper. On each page there is something for younger and older children to read: for instance, large print about waiting for the cherries to appear, and small print about the kind of birds pictured, the color of the sky, and details about the leaves or petals. It includes a recipe for making cherry pie. There are nifty little holes in the cover that are the steam vents for the cherry pie, just perfect to stick small fingers through as if tasting what's underneath – the words and pictures themselves. It’s a lovely book that will encourage children and adults to practice collage. Lois' earlier book, Growing Vegetable Soup (Harcourt 1987) also comes with a recipe at the end. She uses collage again to tell a story about growing vegetables, gathering them, and then preparing the soup. It is a simple book, but everything is labeled so that there is plenty to explore on each page. Super Chef asked Lois about her inspiration: I live in the city, but I grew up in a small town. We always had a garden. I have been tending garden since I was a small kid. In the city I work on a community plot, and that is what inspire me to write Growing Vegetable Soup. I really did make soup! Another early book - still available - about food, Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z (Harcourt 1989), may sound very simple, but she includes vegetables like endive, huckleberry and kumquat that make the book fun for an early reader. People sometimes ask me, how can a small child make a pie or work in the garden? Don't they need bigger hands to hold the tools? Of course, they can't do it on their own. But you can introduce them to the garden and the kitchen and they can do a lot. Now that it's nearly Spring, get your kids out with a little push from Lois Ehlert's books. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Author Previous articles: Adam Rex: Frankensteing Makes a Sandwich Runaway Dinner:Allan Ahlberg Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook Sam Stern's Cooking Up A Storm Food Adventures for Kids Christmas Remembered: Tomie dePaolo Nora Sands: Nora's Dinners Back to School: Mollie Katzen's Salad People Annabel Karmel: First Meals [Cookbook Reviews -- omplete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, blogging, Lois Ehlert Del.icio.us | Digg | Technorati | Blinklist | Furl --> back to Super Chef