The Yummy Adventures of Celia and Cedric {Book Series Spotlight} + Interview

I'm here to tell you about a fun, educational series called, "The Yummy Adventures of Celia and Cedric: A Read and Bake Series." Celia and Cedric were created by mother and daughter team,
Laara Exsnar and Erin Kurt. These books promote positive character traits. The characters go on fun adventures that always have them needing to make or bake a nutritious, delicious snack - which they call Nutrilicious™! The recipe for each snack is provided at the back of the book so kids can re-create the exact recipe with their moms and dads.

About the Books:

 

Celia is bored. And with everyone in her family busy she doesn’t know what to do...until her dad gives her a task that leads to her best day ever; the day she meets Cedric and their yummy adventures begin! This is the first book of "The Yummy Adventures of Celia & Cedric" series.

 

   

 After a rainy night Celia had a fun idea as usual. Who knew that what started out as mud and grass clippings would turn out to be the most delicious, delectable snack they or anyone else had tasted…yes, even Celia's teenage brother, Jake.

   

Celia and Cedric meet a new friend! In this new adventure, they meet the Little Green Dragon, who becomes a fun playmate and an inspiration for a yummy new recipe. Celia and Cedric enjoy the Little Green Dragon's smoothie and you can, too!

Interview with Erin Kurt:

 

*What inspired you to write this series?

After I had my first child, my mother and I were sitting on the sofa chatting and she mentioned she wanted to write a cookbook for kids so she could include all the delicious and nutritious snacks she had compiled over the years.  I told her that it was always my dream to write books for kids too.

After chatting for a while I remembered that when I was a school teacher I used to take any book that had food within the storyline and find a recipe to match it.  Then I’d turn the making of that recipe into different extension activities for the children, whether it be Math, Science or Health.  At the end of the school year, my students would often mention that one of their favourite memories of our year together was the making of those yummy recipes. 

After remembering this, I had a light bulb moment and said, “Mom, what if we create our own children’s book series where we have two friends going on adventures and always needing to make or bake something based on that adventure.  She loved the idea. 

Right then and there we brainstormed the adventures and matched one of her snack recipes to suit. I still have that brainstorming sheet!

*How do you come up with each new adventure?

Mom and I usually decide which recipe of hers we want to focus on then we discuss what kind of situation our characters would have to be in in order to make or bake it.  We go back and forth with a couple of ideas and then I usually write the story and send it to her to add her ideas.  Mom has such a playful connection to kids, so she always has great ideas to add.

*How many books are you planning to write for this series?

We don’t see an end to this series as Celia and Cedric’s adventures can continue for a very long time!  Plus, mom has so many incredible “Nutrilicious” recipes she wants to share.

*Which authors or books influenced your writing?

Because my specialty as a school teacher was Literacy, I read loads of books.  Actually my favourite thing to do is read stories to children.  So, I've been influenced by loads of authors.  As well, I have seen what kinds of stories my students and children tended to request over and over again.  If I had to mention a few though, I'd say, Paulette Bourgeois, writer of the Franklin series, Robert Munsch, and C.S. Lewis.

*How did you come up with your main characters' names?

Actually that was all mom’s doing.  She knew she wanted the names to come from our bodies or anatomy somehow because of her love of healthy bodies, so she looked at her arm and the hairs reminded her of cilia in our intestines.  She immediately said, “Celia!”  I loved that name, but we knew we wanted her to have a friend too, so mom went to bed that night and when she awoke the name “Cedric” just popped in her head.  That was the beginning of The Yummy Adventures of
Celia and Cedric!

*What do you like to do in your spare time, aside from writing?

We both love to bake, exercise, walk and read.  I also adore traveling.  Thus, I live in England where flights to anywhere in the world are right on my doorstep.

*If you could be the main character in any book, who would you be?

Oooh, that is a tough question!  You’ve stumped me!

*Is there anything you would like your readers to know?

We would love them to know that this Series’ mission is to help families be happy and healthy.  They’ll be happy while reading and baking together and they’ll be healthy while they eat these nutrient - dense foods.  We also want them to know that they can expect NEW books in the series before December 2015!

To learn more about the authors and this series, go to the website Celia and Cedric.