jama rattigan's alphabet soup

mood: happy

We've got a very special treat today: extremely prolific, New York Times best selling children's book author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, has stopped by for a quick snack!

You probably know her from such gems as Little Pea and Little Hoot, or maybe, like me, you couldn't resist tasting her fresh baked cookie wisdom in Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons, and Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons (which I reviewed here).

  

But as I mentioned in this post about her new film project, The Beckoning of Lovely (a mammoth undertaking which received enthusiastic response from around the world), Amy's creative endeavors include not only children's books, but a best selling adult memoir, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (which I loved!), gift books and journals, parenting books, humor columns, videos, book reviews, and a gig as a public radio talk show host.

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Tags: amy krouse rosenthal, interviews

Posted at 06:52 am | Link | Leave a comment | 12 comments | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

mood: excited

Back in September, crcook posted a truly lovely and cooler than cool 7-minute video called, "The Beckoning of Lovely." It totally caught me by surprise, chased my evil, cynical tendencies out the window, and made my heart flutter with hope.

Making things. Creativity. Coming together. Sharing. Good vibes all around.

The woman in the video arrived on the scene with her yellow umbrella, and in a few hours, changed the lives of everyone there. Strangers worked together to "make an 18th lovely thing." I admired the young woman's ingenuity and spontaneous, free-spirited social experiment.

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Tags: amy krouse rosenthal, beckoning of lovely, holiday treats

Posted at 08:13 am | Link | Leave a comment | 7 comments | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

mood: chipper

CHRISTMAS COOKIES: BITE-SIZE HOLIDAY LESSONS , by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, pictures by Jane Dyer (HarperCollins, 2008), all ages, 32 pp., On shelves now.

Season's Greetings! (Please greet me with cookies.)

I squealed with delight when I saw Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons (HarperCollins, 2008), the scrumptious follow-up to her New York Times Bestseller, Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons (HarperCollins, 2006).

This time, we are treated to 23 more delectable cookie-centric definitions to inspire, enlighten and delight readers of all ages. Have you ever tried to explain such abstract terms as "Prosperity," "Charitable," or "Perseverance" to a child? Pretty tricky, huh?

That's where these cookies come in. "Prosperity means, My goodness, just look at all those cookies!" "Charitable means setting a big batch aside to give to people who maybe don't have any cookies at all." And "Preseverance means, We tried and tried and tried, and finally we made the perfect not-burned batch."


"GRACIOUS means putting out a plate for our special guest."

With cookies, everything becomes clear. Especially when the definitions feature charming, curly haired, multiethnic kids and their gentle animal friends working together in the kitchen.


''FRUSTRATED means, I can't believe we burned them again!"

If ever there was a perfect pairing of author and illustrator, these cookie books are it. Jane Dyer's winsome watercolors perfectly capture the candy-striped, multicolor-frosted, sugar-sprinkled celebration that is Christmas without being cloying or overly cute. Kids will love how humans and animals, equally enthusiastic about cookies, inhabit the same world. Since these crunchy chunks of wisdom can be nibbled on one tasty morsel at a time, or gobbled up in one fell swoop, it is suitable for picky eaters as well as established gastronomes. No holding back here. Open the book to any page, cozy up to the table, and help yourself to pure yummy-ness.


"SHARING means, Thanks for giving me a taste. Would you like a bite of mine?"

I am a huge fan of both Rosenthal's and Dyer's work, and highly recommend both of these Cookie books. Created from what seems like the perfect recipe, these gems satisfy to the very last crumb.

To browse inside Christmas Cookies, click here.

For the Christmas Cookie recipe included in the book, click here.

If, by some chance, you were visiting another planet and missed the first Cookie book, take a peek inside it here.


COOKIES: BITE-SIZE LIFE LESSONS, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal,
pictures by Jane Dyer (HarperCollins, 2006), all ages, 32 pp.

**This book inspired me to write my own Bite-Size Writing Lessons here!

Special thanks to R. Michelson Galleries for permission to post interior spreads from Christmas Cookies. All images included here are available for sale (watercolor on paper, 8.5" x 8.5"). Click here for more information on these and other illustrations from Jane Dyer's books.

*All interior images copyright © 2008 Jane Dyer, published by HarperCollins. All rights reserved.

Tags: amy krouse rosenthal, book reviews, christmas cookies, holiday treats

Posted at 07:52 am | Link | Leave a comment | 6 comments | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend