Welbeck bags Karmel's children's cookbook

Welbeck Publishing has bagged Annabel Karmel’s Fun, Fast & Easy Children’s Cookbook, promising a new approach to family cooking.

Joff Brown, editorial manager, acquired world rights from Stephanie Thwaites and Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown. It will publish on 2nd September 2021.

The cookbook is billed as a brand new kitchen companion for young children and their parents. Alongside recipes for everything from sizzling stir fries, orzo pasta jars and nutritious noodle pots, the book promises something for even the pickiest eater. It is backed by illustrated step-by-step instructions and fun tips like how to tell if an egg is fresh without breaking it.

The synopsis explains: “As well as delicious, easy-to-make recipes featuring vibrant, enticing photography, you will find lots of fascinating food facts and essential kitchen tips to get the family cooking together. Everything is enhanced with Bryony Clarkson’s charming illustrations, making this a book that both kids and parents will love.”

Karmel is credited with pioneering the way families all over the world feed their babies and children with her trusty recipes and methods. She has more than 47 cookbooks to her name and is a regular media commentator on food-related issues. In 2006, she received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition, and she has since become recognised as one of the UK’s leading female entrepreneurs.

In 2017, Karmel announced she was leaving long-term publisher Ebury to self-publish the Baby-Led Weaning Recipe Book. Her most recent title, Weaning Made Simple, was published by Bluebird in 2020. She has sold 2.1 million books in the UK for £21.8m through Nielsen BookScan with her New Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner (Ebury) on 396,078 copies since 2008.

Karmel said: “I’m so excited to have partnered with the team at Welbeck Publishing to cook up this fun, colourful kids’ cookbook! There are endless benefits to encouraging even the youngest of children to take an active interest in cooking and this new book allows budding chefs and bakers to have a blast in the kitchen whilst learning plenty of new skills along the way. Every recipe has been designed for children and grown-ups to cook together and the (tasty) end results can be enjoyed by the whole family.”

Jane Harris, Welbeck children’s group publisher, added: “We couldn’t miss the opportunity to publish international bestselling author Annabel Karmel, with a fresh new approach to making cooking with children fun and family orientated. Annabel’s recipes, paired with a shared vision for introducing food, top tips and cookery fun facts for young children in a playful way, is so relevant for today’s world. We could not be more delighted to be publishing Annabel this year.”