A Tale of Chocolate,From Farm to Family
Bloomsbury Children's Books
(pub. 5.21.2019)
40 pages
A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top
A uthor and illustrator:
A Cherry On Top
A uthor and illustrator:
Elizabeth Zunon
C haracter: Grandpa Cacao
O verview:
"As a little girl and her father bake her birthday cake together, Daddy tells the story of her Grandpa Cacao, a farmer from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. In a land where elephants roam and the air is hot and damp, Grandpa Cacao worked in his village to harvest cacao, the most important ingredient in chocolate.
'Chocolate is a gift to you from Grandpa Cacao,' Daddy says. 'We can only enjoy chocolate treats thanks to farmers like him.'
Once the cake is baked, it's ready to eat, but this isn't her only birthday present. There's a special surprise waiting at the front door ...
This beautifully illustrated family story connects past and present, history and tradition, and joins us all in mutual love for chocolate."
C haracter: Grandpa Cacao
O verview:
"As a little girl and her father bake her birthday cake together, Daddy tells the story of her Grandpa Cacao, a farmer from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. In a land where elephants roam and the air is hot and damp, Grandpa Cacao worked in his village to harvest cacao, the most important ingredient in chocolate.
'Chocolate is a gift to you from Grandpa Cacao,' Daddy says. 'We can only enjoy chocolate treats thanks to farmers like him.'
Once the cake is baked, it's ready to eat, but this isn't her only birthday present. There's a special surprise waiting at the front door ...
This beautifully illustrated family story connects past and present, history and tradition, and joins us all in mutual love for chocolate."
"Chocolate is my most favorite thing ever. For my birthday, Daddy and I are making our family's special celebration cake ...
'Tell me again about Grandpa Cacao,' I ask. 'Are you like him? Am I?'
'We're from a land called the Ivory Coast,' Daddy says, 'where I grew up watching big, graceful elephants roam. It's where the air breathes hot and damp, thick with stories and music and the languages of people from tiny villages and big cities. Grandpa Cacao's farm was the pride of his life.'
'The air, the rain, and the soil must be just right for growing cacao.' Daddy holds a sieve over the mixing bowl, and I pour in the flour. 'Grandpa Cacao carried heavy loads through the bush, back and forth to his fields on his wide, calloused feet.'
'That must be where I get my wide-boat feet!' I say as I add the baking powder."
And something more: Elizabeth Zunon, the amazing illustrator of our book, MY HANDS SINGS THE BLUES - Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey, kindly shared with me some thoughts about this wonderful family story that Liz illustrated and wrote:
"I've been in love with chocolate all my life, and obsessed with how to make a book about where chocolate comes from ever since I heard my father describe following his father to their cacao farm in the Ivory Coast. I'd like to think that chocolate grows on trees, but there are so many steps between when the farmer plucks the fruit from the tree and when we unwrap a store-bought chocolate bar. Chocolate is so easily accessible to us, but it takes such a long journey to arrive in our hands!"
Liz generously sent me a signed copy of her wonderful book, and it was wrapped just like a chocolate bar in elegant gold paper with a beautiful printed cacao plant, and clever and touching "chocolate bar" facts:
"Nutrition facts:
Serving Size: 40 pages
Servings: 1
Age Range: 3-6 years (but really up to age 135 or more)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
Ingredients:
DADDY'S MEMORIES, GRANDPA'S DEDICATION, AN ART SCHOOL SPARK OF INSPIRATION, 13 YEARS OF MARINATING, LOTS OF EDITS, MORNING PAINTING, AFTERNOON COLLAGE, LATE-NIGHT SILK-SCREENING, LOVE, A SPRINKLE OF LUCK , A DASH OF TRUST, A YEARNING TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FAMILY LEGACY, A DESIRE TO KNOW SOMEONE I NEVER MET & THE HOPE THAT WE CAN ALL GO HOME AGAIN.
Just unwrap, open and enjoy! "
