Weaving together reality and fiction, author-illustrator Judith Schachner has created an extraordinary book that centers around American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and his household's cook who's just arrived from Ireland. Full color.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-In a picture book that weaves together fact and fiction, Schachner tells of her great grandmother, Annie Burns, who arrives from Ireland and becomes a cook at the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson. This curious man is so consumed by nature, thought, and writing that he has lost interest in food. Annie has no success with her good cooking until her mother sends her a cookbook she made as a child; its recipes for mud pies and moon cakes remind her that she shares some of the spiritual values of this odd but wonderful man. She uses her imagination to combine real food with food for the spirit-and finally, much to the relief of his family, he begins to eat. Annie has a fine sense of humor and is sensitive to her employer. As she learns to understand him, so do readers, through his character and dialogue. The warm watercolor illustrations are done with a light touch and have a celebration of natural goodness to match the spirit of the text. This is for readers who enjoy Michael Bedard and Barbara Cooney's Emily (Doubleday, 1992), a story about a literary figure whose writings are often beyond the reach of a picture-book audience, but whose generosity of spirit is for everyone.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children's books since 1992 and has given numerous presentations in schools and libraries. Her workshops are designed to be warm and personal with a special regard for the less than stellar student.
"Kids love to review my rotten report cards and laugh out loud at a slide show involving 4 cats and a funeral. Teachers love the 'Seed Box' filled to the brim with a magical collection of 'Junk' to inspire the writer in all of us. Everyone loves to watch 'Don Juan Skippito Bumblito the Great Sword Fighter' come to life with pencil and paper. By the end of the day we all believe that the stories in our own lives are worth writing about."
Judith Byron Schachner grew up outside of Boston in the 1950's. Her early years were not easy: "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."
Judith graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art 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."
Married life changed many things for Judith. One clear advantage for her was that "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. Around the same time I met Donna Jo Napoli who convinced Dutton Children's Books to let me illustrate her novel, The Prince of the Pond," published in 1992.
In 1995 Judith wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Willy and May, and has turned out a number of projects since then. "The wonderful 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 Judith's back yard admiring her daughters' Viking ship (as Judith puts it, that's another story). Working with Lloyd Alexander has been a dream come true for Judith: "Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever think that my art would inhabit his world of words."
"Kids love to review my rotten report cards and laugh out loud at a slide show involving 4 cats and a funeral. Teachers love the 'Seed Box' filled to the brim with a magical collection of 'Junk' to inspire the writer in all of us. Everyone loves to watch 'Don Juan Skippito Bumblito the Great Sword Fighter' come to life with pencil and paper. By the end of the day we all believe that the stories in our own lives are worth writing about."
Judith Byron Schachner grew up outside of Boston in the 1950's. Her early years were not easy: "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."
Judith graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art 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."
Married life changed many things for Judith. One clear advantage for her was that "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. Around the same time I met Donna Jo Napoli who convinced Dutton Children's Books to let me illustrate her novel, The Prince of the Pond," published in 1992.
In 1995 Judith wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Willy and May, and has turned out a number of projects since then. "The wonderful 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 Judith's back yard admiring her daughters' Viking ship (as Judith puts it, that's another story). Working with Lloyd Alexander has been a dream come true for Judith: "Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever think that my art would inhabit his world of words."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Book!,
By Gina Corsun (Edison, NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mr. Emerson's Cook (Hardcover)
I just returned from the first day of the NCTE conference in NYC where I attended a session on using picture books in the secondary classroom in conjunction with American classics. Judith Byron Schachner was in attendance and read her wonderful book in a mellifluous Irish brogue. This book is not just for young children. It is a terrific way to introduce high school students to Emerson and Transcendentalism.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful picture book for the young and not-so-young,
By
This review is from: Mr. Emerson's Cook (Hardcover)
Annie Burns arrives in the U.S. from Ireland and immediately takes the job of cook in the Emerson house in Concord, Massachusetts. At first she's not so sure about working for a philosopher who would rather watch sunrises than taste her homemade pies. But after she writes a questioning letter to her mother, she receives a reply that stirs her imagination. Soon she succeeds in enticing Mr. Emerson to eat what she puts on the table.Author Judith Byron Schachner is a descendant of Annie Burns, and it's evident she tells this story with love and respect. The text is Transcendentalism in its most basic form. The illustrations are colorful and lively. Teens and adults can relate to the nuances of the plot, while the younger set can study the animals that appear in every scene. The chickens are wearing the booties that Thoreau made for them, and the cats are as playful on these pages as their breed can be in real life. A successful foray into the world of the Concord authors!
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