Fall = Comforting Food and Comforting Books

Books Cecelia loves to EAT!

by Danika Lagorio

Ceclia--book lover

From pumpkin spice lattes to eggplant soup to apple everything else I am afraid that fall is becoming a dangerously fat time for me.  And reading to Cecelia at bedtime might be the most perilous of all.  There are some delicious fall books out there that fill our dreams with scrumptious delights.   So please join us on our big comfy bed (Ce-Ce and I will try and move our big butts over) for:

an evening of adventure with food and books

First Course

Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert

Like many of Ehrlich’s books, Growing Vegetable Soup is simple in text and image, but deep in understanding of small children.  Using her classic bold colored art prints Ehrlich illustrates the tools and care needed to grow vegetable soup.   Cecelia just now really understands that seeds will transform with time and care into yummy vegetables.  For a girl who loves lyricism in her books, I think the appeal of this one is its ability to turn a complex idea into its most simple terms.

Main Course

Strega Nona, by Tomie de Paola

Strega Nona has been a favorite of Cecelia’s long before this fall, but on these cool evenings I find myself dreaming of eating mounds of Grandma Witch’s hot and wonderful pasta.  Long ago in a little town in Calabria there lives a witch called Strega Nona, which means “grandma witch”.  She has a magic pot that makes pasta on command.  The magic pot will keep making pasta until it is told to stop.  Unfortunately for Strega Nona’s assistant, Big Anthony (who never pays attention) misses how to stop the pot.  Craziness ensues when Strega Nona goes out for the day and Big Anthony decides to show off for the town by making everyone pasta.  Is it the bad Italian accents that my husband Jon and I use while reading this book? Maybe it is sweet and silly illustrations of Tomie de Paola’s?  Or it could be the idea of a whole town covered in pasta.  One thing is for sure- Ce-ce always has two or three helping to this charming book.

Desert

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, 

by Marjorie Priceman

Save room for this one!  Cecelia usually skips the main courses and just demands this one.  Told in second person, Ms. Priceman takes “you” on an adventure around the world from Italy to Sri Lanka in pursuit of the finest ingredients for a perfect apple pie. The illustrations are the sugar and spice of this wonderful adventure.  We spend a lot of time studying each picture.  Ce-Ce loves looking for the cats who show up in places where cats usually are not like boats and train stations.  I love the banana boat headed for Jamaica.  I always pause a little longer on that page so that I can imagine collecting salt water at night on such a romantic boat.  It is a perfect book to finish off the night (with or without ice-cream).