Mr. Emerson's Cook - Hardcover

Judy Schachner; Judith Byron Schachner

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525458840 ISBN 13: 9780525458845

Publisher: Dutton Children's Books, 1998

Synopsis

American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson is so immersed in his own imagination that he has stopped eating, and it takes down-to-earth Irish cook Annie Burns to assume the challenge of cooking for the great man.

About this title

About the Author:

I was the last child and only daughter born to Edward and Mary Francis Byron on August 20th, 1951 in the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. My oldest brother Ted was very good at art and my middle brother Kevin kept me laughing with his funny stories. Growing up we didn't have much money. My mother was very ill, and to make matters worse, I was extremely shy. All my teachers complained that Judith needs to speak up in class, Judith needs to improve in arithmetic, and Judith needs to finish her work on time. But no one complained about my artwork. On paper I drew myself a world where mothers were healthy and teachers were kind. My life was perfection in pencil. In 1969, Massachusetts College of Art accepted me as a student despite my poor SAT scores. I graduated in 1973 with a BFA in illustration and went straight into the greeting card factories which included a stint at Hallmark. For five years I designed cute cards, sad cards, funny cards, and wedding cards. I was not having fun; in fact I never wanted to pick up a paintbrush again. Then I met my husband, Bob, and for the first time in many years I could step off the 9 to 5 treadmill and devote all my energy to creating a portfolio of children's book art. That was until two little baby girls were born. Then motherhood became my favorite new job Over the years I read hundreds of books to my daughters. Inspired by the art and words, I was moved once again to finish my portfolio and take it on the road to New York. That's when I met Lucia Monfried. The most important relationship in publishing is that of the author/illustrator and her editor. I am most lucky to have Lucia. With her gentle encouragement and wisdom she took me by the hand and helped me accomplish the impossible. In 1995 I not only illustrated my first picture book but I wrote it too. Willy and May was published to wonderful reviews and no one ever suspected my fear of semi-colons. The great thing about my job is that one day I can be writing about history, as I did in Mr. Emerson's Cook. The next day I'm drawing a wacky old woman for I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Or I can bring to life a beloved pet cat in my book The Grannyman. I live in a constant state of 3rd grade bliss - making up stories and drawing pictures. Isn't that what we all did as children? Several years ago the great author Lloyd Alexander stood in my back yard admiring my daughters' Viking ship(that's another story.) Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever think that my art would inhabit his world of words. How the Cat Swallowed Thunder proves that dreams really do come true.

From Publishers Weekly:

Schachner (Willy and May) creates a vivid introduction to the venerable New England philosopher through the eyes of Annie Burns, the Irish immigrant girl who comes to cook for him and his family. Upon her arrival, Annie confesses, "I've led many a cow to the barn, but never a philosopher to the dinner table," but she has yet to discover just how daunting her task is. Try as she might, as Annie writes to her mother, "When offered a warm bowl of soup, he chooses the warm colors of the sunset every time." But when her mother replies with a cookbook Annie wrote as a child, filled with recipes for mud pies and moon cakes, the cook's imagination soars. The next morning, her Sunrise Pie, "filled with all the colors of the morning sky," wins Mr. Emerson over?he takes three helpings. Loose sketchbook-like drawings with watercolor wash capture the details of the early-19th-century setting, spiced with comic touches; in the Sunrise Pie scene, Emerson stands on a chair holding his slice, while his wife, children, Annie and a parrot perched on his arm look on with delight. An afterword providing additional background about Emerson, Thoreau and Annie Burns (Schachner's own great-grandmother) tops off this meaty course, one part humor and one part history. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0525458840
• ISBN 13: 9780525458845
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48