AUTHOR
Solveig Ariane Prusko
Solveig Ariane Prusko has always been passionate about communication and language. Born in 1968 in Berlin, she learnt to talk at a very young age and started making up stories and writing them down while she was still quite small. “My school essays were never particularly good. But when it came to personal creativity, people loved reading my letters, stories and travel diaries.” When she started working, Solveig stopped writing stories for several years but, when her son Leonhard was born in 2004, her love of writing was rekindled. “One day I started writing down the little stories I was telling my son, so that I could read them to him over and over again.” Spices have always played an important part in these stories right from the start. “We like cooking and baking, and Leonhard always used to ask me which spices we were using and where they grew. At first, I explained them to him, then I started to tell stories about them. I found inspiration on trips to foreign countries where the markets smell so powerfully of spices.” Every story is a bit like a mini research expedition, during which the reader discovers (or rediscovers) spices and other things that have been partially or even completely forgotten about – after all, some of the facts are quite amazing.
Solveig Ariane Prusko works in the marketing and communications department of a big company. In her spare time, she helps the children at her local kindergarten, where she chairs the Friends’ Association and enjoys reading the children stories from other countries and running cookery sessions, making food from the countries in which the stories are set.
REVIEW
8th August 2011: Review by teachers’ association BLLV - Mittelfranken: Felicity and the Vanilla Mystery
It’s vanilla pudding for dessert again. Felicity finds vanilla pudding boring, and it is only when her mother tells her about the vanilla mystery that she becomes curious. In Grandpa’s greenhouse she learns more about the vanilla orchid, and suddenly finds herself in the jungle. A red parrot speaks to her and wants to know what she is doing in the jungle. When she tells him that she is looking for the vanilla orchid, he takes her to his friend, the hummingbird. Together, the three of them venture deeper into the jungle to find the fragrant orchids. But when Felicity tries the vanilla pods, she is disappointed. The pods don’t taste like the vanilla at home. So the hummingbird takes her to a plantation, where Carlos, a plantation worker, explains what happens to the pods.
Solveig Prusko explains the vanilla mystery for curious readers. Where does vanilla grow and what is done to it so that it can be used for cooking and baking? Her book will appeal particularly to preschool children.
A fantastic story that may also teach adults a thing or two. How many people know that the vanilla pod comes from a species of orchid? The story is written in both German and English to teach children language skills as well as subject knowledge. It is a book that deserves a place on everyone’s bookshelf. Highly recommended.
CONTENT
Felicity and the Vanilla
Mystery
Felicity finds vanilla pudding boring. But when Mum starts telling her about the vanilla mystery, the little girl starts to get interested. Before she knows what’s happening, Felicity finds herself – along with a cheeky parrot and a tiny hummingbird – on an expedition through the Central American rainforest, where she eventually uncovers the secret of vanilla and decides that vanilla is quite exciting after all.
The idea behind this book is not only to give children an enjoyable story to read, but also to make them more aware of food, to make them curious about spices and flavours and to motivate them to try out recipes for things that we now make automatically from instant packet mixes.
ORDER
Felicity and the Vanilla
Mystery
Published: 03.2010
Binding: Hardcover
Format: 30 x 24,5 cm
Pages: 36
Price: 16,95 Euro
ISBN: 978-3-98-124322-2
Language: Bilingual (DE/ENG)
Author: Solveig Ariane Prusko
Translation: R. Mendy
Illustrator: Gerlinde Keller
For ages: 4 - 10 years
