There are so many everyday things I take for granted because I’ve become accustomed to them.  It’s not until I catch a glimpse of history that I understand how things came to be.  That is exactly the case with today’s picture book.  Thank goodness for Fannie Farmer!

Emma Bland Smith is a librarian and the award-winning author of many books for children. Her latest include Mr. McCloskey’s Marvelous Mallards, How Science Saved the Eiffel Tower, and The Gardener of Alcatraz. Emma lives in an old creaky house in San Francisco with her family, pets, and too many cookbooks and coffee mugs. You can learn more at her website or follow her on Instagram or Twitter.

THE FABULOUS FANNIE FARMER: KITCHEN SCIENTIST AND AMERICA’S COOK is a nonfiction biography about Fannie Farmer.  Fannie was an American woman who loved to cook in a time when recipes only gave hints (because women were supposed to know how to cook on intuition and feelings alone or they weren’t female enough–good grief!).  SHE is the gal we owe the modern cookbook to!  SHE is the one who developed a scientific approach to cooking so anyone and everyone could replicate what had been created. Without her, the modern face of cooking would NOT be the same. Once again I’m astounded that I’ve never heard of her.  How is that possible?  I am a foodie for goodness sake!  And I wholeheartedly believe in Fannie Farmer’s precise measurement approach to cooking.  This was a story I gobbled up (pun intended) and was further impressed by the writing, because once again history failed.  Through diligent research (and a little imagination) Emma Bland Smith carefully crafts a look into Fannie’s life (and tells what parts she crafted due to lack of information).  Because even if history didn’t have the details, this is still a story worth telling.

Welcome Emma!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey?  When did you start writing stories?  What brought you to this picture book?

Emma: Like many people, I started writing as a child. I cherished my favorite books, read them over and over, and idolized the authors. As an adult, I went into magazine editing, then freelance writing. But it wasn’t until my kids were born that I fell in love with children’s books again and decided I wanted to try my hand at them. It took many years after that to find my wonderful agent and finally get published.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I never planned to write narrative nonfiction! I was a fiction reader through and through. But after my first book, I really clicked with this genre and have been here ever since!

Me: I’m astonished that I’ve never heard of Fannie Farmer before!  When did you first learn about Fannie Farmer?  What was it about her that first grabbed you and made you want to write about her story?

Emma: Even though I have always owned an old Fannie Farmer cookbook, I had never thought much about Fannie herself. I probably assumed she was made up, like Betty Crocker! As it turns out, she was a real and inspiring person.

My lightbulb moment came when my daughter chose to write about Fannie for a fourth grade project on inventors. In her report she said that Fannie was called “The Mother of Measurement” and that she had invented standard measurements. My interest was immediately piqued! I later learned that Fannie had not so much invented standard measurements as popularized them, but there were many other fascinating things about her that made her a great subject for a picture book bio.     

Me: I love your stance about the difference between fiction and nonfiction that you take both in writing the book and in your explanations in the back matter. Why is that so important to you, to distinguish between the two genres in writing a book like this?

Emma: It is so tempting to add color and details, especially when you don’t have much to go on. Sometimes I think I might like to try writing historical fiction, because then you really can craft the story you want, and make your characters do or say anything! But if we’re calling our work nonfiction, we must be sure that everything is true and can be backed up by sources.

If I want to add something that I’m not sure happened, to speculate, there are ways to tell that to the reader. You can say, “Some people think that” or “Most likely,” or something similar. For example, you can write, “She must have been furious!” if you believe your character was furious but you don’t have the source to back it up.

These are just wording tweaks, but they matter if we want nonfiction to be taken seriously.

Me: I love that.  You mention the challenge of writing a story when there was only so much you could research (as so much was missing).  I’ve faced that challenge myself.  How did you get around that?  Did you have to do a lot more research for this story than usual?  Can you tell us a bit about your research process for this story?

Emma: Yes, it can be so hard! I started with Laura Shapiro and her wonderful book, Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the century—a must if you’re interested in food history! I always recommend speaking to authors of books for adults and experts on the subject. They’re usually happy to share their knowledge and point you toward great primary sources.

From there, I tracked down old articles about Fannie from magazines like Good Housekeeping. I also tried to get my hands on some of Fannie’s own monthly magazine columns, which she wrote for Woman’s Home Companion. Sometimes these were available online, but other times I’d have to call a big university library, and deal with all that red tape. But eventually I’d receive them, and I remember the thrill of opening the attachment, and seeing the PDF of this 110-year-old article appear on my screen!

The hardest thing for me to obtain was photos. Because all the archives and libraries were closed for a year or more due to the pandemic, it took so long, and required great patience, endless emails, and in some cases, significant fees, to get the scans. But it was worth it! The pictures of Fannie in her element are gold.

This sort of research is like a scavenger hunt, and it’s so exciting to come across a quote or tidbit that you can use in your story.

Me: I can’t imagine a time when cooking meant you had to use “feminine intuition” with recipes including things like a “suspicion of nutmeg!”  I’m so thankful that Fannie Farmer developed the science of cooking and really created the format we know today for cookbooks!  What was it about this story that you wanted to share with young readers?

Emma: There are lots of angles that drew me to this story—the Fannie who brought science into the kitchen; the Fannie who overcame the obstacles associated with polio to go to cooking school at age 31 and become principal of that school; the Fannie who didn’t believe the publisher who said her book wouldn’t sell well, and persevered with having it published.

But I think the idea that kept nagging at me was that Fannie believed anyone could cook, if they were simply provided the right recipes and tools and opportunity—and if they worked at it. Popular thought was that women should be born with the cooking gene, and if you weren’t a good cook, you were an inferior woman. Fannie thought that was complete nonsense. She herself got where she was not because she was born with a gift, but because she worked really darn hard. And I realized that you could apply that to so many things—from writing to sports and music and dance. That’s what I would like kids to take away from this story.

Me: I love that too!  Susan Reagan’s illustrations in this book are pitch perfect.  I love the color palette and the traditional watercolor mixed with digital.  It’s such a distinctive look!  Did you have any illustration surprises?  Any favorite illustrations?

Emma: I couldn’t agree more! I am just delighted with everything about Susan’s illustrations! She made the food look so delicious. And it’s fun to see all the antique cooking tools and vintage clothing. Besides how gorgeous and charming they are, what I love best is that because Susan is a seasoned illustrator of historical books, I know that she did a lot of research and everything is accurate to the time period. No anachronisms here!

One of my favorite spreads shows people throughout the decades all working on a different step of the apple pie recipe from Fannie’s cookbook. She represented a breadth of diversity and humanity, as well as incorporating the actual text of the recipe, and it’s just beautiful!

Me: I agree!  Any advice for other new picture book writers?

Emma: I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my two critique groups. Not only do they read everything I write and help fine tune it, they’re a source of emotional support. The writing world can feel vast and exclusive. Being part of a smaller community helps you feel like you belong (because you do!!), not to be intimidated, and to persevere.

That’s great advice Emma.  Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, if you haven’t yet had a chance to read this book, I highly recommend tracking down a copy.  It’s yet another fantastic look at a fabulous woman who helped to change the world around her.  You won’t want to miss it!