HQ scoops cookbook from Instagram star Mortimer

HQ has scooped the first cookbook from Instagram star Grace Mortimer.

Louise McKeever, editorial director, acquired world all language rights to My First Meals: Fast, fun recipes for children with just five ingredients, from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. It will publish in August. 

Mortimer started her Instagram account @_myfirstmeals during the first lockdown and has since amassed more than 130,000 followers. She uses the platform to share her quick, simple and affordable five-ingredient recipe ideas for kids. 

Mortimer said: “I am beyond excited to be working with HQ on my first book. I wanted to create a book where the recipes were so easy to follow that anyone could confidently undertake them, whatever their level of experience in the kitchen, and without having to give their full concentration to cooking. I’m so pleased that HQ saw what I wanted to do with My First Meals and gave me the opportunity to create this book for time-poor, usually exhausted, cooks!” 

McKeever added: “As soon as we met Grace and discovered the magic she could create with just a couple of ingredients in hand, we knew we had to publish her first cookbook. These are fast, fabulous and fun recipes that you can easily make and that your kids will absolutely adore.”