Mud Pies and Other Recipes

On sale: October 5, 2010
Age: 5-9 years
Grade: Grades K-4
Page count: 56 Pages
ISBN: 9781590173688

Marjorie Winslow (1923-2012) lived in Arizona, California, Indiana, New York, and Massachusetts and found an abundance of doll food everywhere. Prior to publishing Mud Pies & Other Recipes in 1959, Winslow entered and won Vogue’s prestigious Prix de Paris competition, which launched a career in publishing first as a copywriter, then as a fashion editor. But this was not the extent of her occupations, which also included Mexican restaurant owner, carpenter, upholsterer, clothing designer, cook, and, as she said in the update she wrote for a class reunion, “a housewife, a mother, an author, a corporation president, a free spirit, a sober citizen, a failure, a success.”

Erik Blegvad was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1923. He has illustrated more than one hundred books, including seven written by his wife, Lenore. His memoir, Self-Portrait, was published in 1978.

“This charming and fastidiously complete resource has been reissued thankfully by the New York Review Children's Collection…. Mud Pies delights because, like the very best children's books, it gives young folks their due. Winslow's recipes appeal to the considerable wit, sophistication and imaginative prowess of many young children…. Winslow's book is a gem.” —Prospero, on The Economist website

“When I was about five years old, Granny gave me my first cookbook—Mud  Pies and Other Recipes. Even though it was a pretend cookbook, it somehow persuaded me that real cooking must be fun.”—Sara Moulton

“This is a free spirited, mildly subversive little cook book for dolls...the minutely observed, densely crosshatched drawings are the work of the late Danish-born illustrator, Erik Blegvad.”—Kim Koch and Rod Clarke, Scout Magazine (CAN) 

"Designed for five-year olds, this will, I suspect, appeal to the little girl within us all...a charming beautifully illustrated handbook for doll's tea-parties and fairy picnics. A great stocking filler. Make sure you wrap it in pink tissue." -The Bookseller (UK)

“An adorable little book with charming pictures and a deadpan text.” –Publishers Weekly

 

“The children’s book sensation of the year…” –Newsweek

 

“Delightfully digestible…” –Life

 

“Heaven on Earth–for the young and their readers-out-loud.” –Harper’s Bazaar

 

“One of the most charming picture books ever published.” –Horn Book

 

“Children will race with it to back yard, beach, or woods and get right to work.” –Chicago Tribune

 

“The nicest oddball cookbook of the year…it has Escoffier and Brillat-Savarin beat a literary mile.” –Life

 

“…a haunting little engraving on each page and recipes that are poetry.” –Indianapolis News