So I had this great (?!?!) idea to author a children's lunchbox cookbook because my kids think their lunches ROCK the school. After looking over their classmates boring brown paper sacks, I agreed with them 100 percent!
So I thought having a cookbook printed would be as easy as contacting a publisher and mailing them my incredible intellectual property. Was I wrong! I envisioned Scholastic (yes, the same company that your kid's PTA has put on the annual book fair) embracing my cookbook idea and running with it... I certainly saw NO trace of lunchbox cookbooks at my own school's book fair in September and thought to myself "What an untapped audience". Well, Scholastic's website (and, in their defense, I should say most other reputable publishers' websites) clearly indicated that manuscripts are reviewed on a referral basis.
So, at the end of the day, I learned a little about the concept of self-publishing. One website was at http://www.fonerbooks.com/ and another was the http://www.inktreemarketing.com/ website.
Wish me luck!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Looking for "Interactive" Lunch Ideas...
So I'm now on the quest for fun kid's lunchbox ideas. I already have a bunch up my sleeve that my own kids love, but I'm always looking for more/newer/better... and "funner"!
I read somewhere that kids nowadays are being marketed "interactive food". When I grew up interactive food was a whistle pop. It made noise and you could eat it. Remember the thin box of Cracker Jacks that had a surprise inside? You could be pummelled at the bus stop in my home town by the class bully for that Cracker Jacks toy!
Today a lot of kids food is interactive: Poptarts and Pringles that have jokes and facts on them. Cookies that you can put the icing on by yourself. Those boxes of Lunchables and Kids Cuisine have entertainment built right in with all the sprinkles and dips and flavor packets!
Of course, I'm not going crazy like that. But my kids do like any food that they can "participate" in. Dipping a cookie in some yogurt, using chopsticks, or opening a small round of waxed cheese is really cool in elementary school.
Please send me your tasty tricks and I'll give you full credit in the cookbook. Also, if you can send me a photo of your pantry (of wherever you keep all the piles and stacks of kiddie treats) that would be great to include. I think people are naturally curious of what their other mommy friends feed their kids and if there are any "dark little secrets" in the pantry. Like you claim your kids only eat brocolli and edamame, but wait... is that a to-go pack of Doritos and a bottle of red Kool-Aid I see in your closet? The photos will be a lot of fun for the book.
The photo above shows the contents of my secret "I-Hit-The-Snooze-Alarm-Too-Many-Times-And-Need-To-Crazily-Throw-Lunch-Things-In-A-Bag-Or-The-Kids-Will-Get-Marked-Tardy" shelf. The shelf is in the laundry room, and is usually pretty empty. But with April sports and an active night life (and by that I mean PTA meetings, Cub Scouts, and play rehearsal... NOT whatever you were dreaming of) I have been running around in the mornings like a crazy woman. Hey, at least I know that they'll eat what I pack and that it's balanced.
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