From the Author:
I have been writing stories since I was very young.
When I was three, my mother began encouraging me to make up stories. Without influencing subject, grammar, or length, she typed the stories exactly as I told them. My mother praised my attempts and my confidence as a beginning storyteller began to build.
While in college, I wrote my first children's chapter book (it was typed and over 300 pages long!) and submitted it to publishers. I received a lot of rejections, but several editors were kind enough to write personal replies and those responses were very motivating.
I finished college and went to law school, continuing to write stories in my spare time. Nine years after graduating from law school, I sold my first manuscript. That manuscript did not become published and I was temporarily heartbroken, yet I knew I had crossed a threshold and I became all the more determined to become published.
Every day experiences regularly prompt story threads in my mind. On occasion, I try to stitch together some of the threads into stories.
The idea for The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred popped into my head one morning while making pancakes. Lacking two ingredients, I thought how much more fun it would be if I lived on a farm and the cow was kind enough to provide a cup of fresh milk and the hen offered an egg. I began walking around my kitchen making up my story based upon the rhythm and format of the familiar nursery rhyme, "The House That Jack Built."
Like the nursery rhyme, The Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred is a cumulative tale. In this case, the action builds as a few Spanish words repeat.
Five different farm animals (goat, cow, duck, donkey, and hen) and their farmer each contribute ingredients to a pot (the "cazuela") stirred by the farm maiden. A surprise dish is created (rice pudding or "arroz con leche") and at the book's end, an actual recipe is provided. There is also a glossary with a pronunciation guide.
I never finished making pancakes that morning, but I did manage to write a first draft of my story!
About the Author:
Samantha R. Vamos is the author of THE CAZUELA THAT THE FARM MAIDEN STIRRED, a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book, ALPHABET TRUCKS, and BEFORE YOU WERE HERE, Mi AMOR. Samantha lives near Seattle, Washington.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.