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| Lottia Nieminen (photo: Ilkka Saastamoinen |
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Lotta Nieminen is an illustrator, graphic designer, and art director from Helsinki, Finland, with her own studio in New York City. Cake! is the sixth interactive board book in Phaidon Press's Cook in a Book series, with each title designed to be an immersive experience for toddlers. (For more fun food ideas, check out these Cool Cookbooks for Kids and Teens.)
How have you witnessed children being fascinated by food depicted in art?
Food plays a role in children's daily lives from a very early age. Because of this constant presence, food also becomes one of the earlier motifs kids recognize and relate to (like, for example, when it appears in books). I am personally fascinated by how food can provide children a gateway for independence. Cooking (or pretending to cook) gives children a sense of agency--they feel that they can do something that's often seen as a grown-up task. To me, this is at the core of these books: it shows children that cooking isn't just for adults--it's something they can take part in, explore, and feel proud of. That kind of confidence-building experience can have a lasting impact.
Would you share an early memory you have related to cooking?
As a child, I ran a cafe every summer at my grandmother's summer cottage. I enlisted all family members to help on the project. Tasks included baking, building a countertop, making menus. Eventually, the entire staff also had to double as the customers.
What do you think makes this series appealing or well-suited for younger readers?
I've watched my daughter (who is almost three) engage with these books in different ways as she gains physical and cognitive skills. When she was younger, she enjoyed pointing out and naming the ingredients and objects she recognized. Now, she is more drawn to the immersive aspects: the pull tabs and wheels that let her cook. I think that is what makes the series compelling: the combination of interactivity, simplicity, and agency. The books are not just something to read. They invite children to take part in a real-world activity that feels exciting and meaningful: cooking.
Plus, so much of what makes this series appealing and ideal for pre-readers is the production team's wonderful work. With the editors and art directors I have collaborated with at Phaidon (including Maya Gartner and Meagan Bennett), we have been able to execute intentional novelty elements which encourage hands-on interaction with each book. The page where a child can chop the vegetables with a pop-out knife in Tacos! is an example of this kind of immersive illustration. These books are as close as a pre-reader can get to a play kitchen in print.
Another magical element is that the books captivate the kids' attention with an adult present, as well as on their own. This is by design since there are multiple levels of reading experiences children can have over the years as they grow--from reading the book with a caretaker to actually making the recipe from one of these books in real life. The Phaidon team's goal was to create a series that ignited a passion for cooking that young readers could take beyond the books as they get older and feel ready to try making snacks and meals.
What has most influenced your artistic rendering of the foods each book highlights?
The illustration style for this series is quite minimalist, with a focus on shape, composition, and color. Which means I am always striving to find the balance between elements reading as what they are, while leaving room for imagination through a level of abstraction. I like the process of translating something familiar into a simplified form that still feels recognizable. I want the images to spark curiosity; not just depict something literally.
Color is central to all my work and has had a key role in this series as well. I begin each book by developing a palette that sets the mood, reflects the temperature, and visually expresses the flavor. The overall effect creates a sensory experience through color alone.
What is your favorite ingredient to draw?
What inspires me most when working on this series is the variety--some ingredients, like flour, sugar, or salt, appear repeatedly across the books. But each new book brings the opportunity to explore new ingredients that require creative problem-solving.
What is the first recipe you can recall having made?
The first recipe I remember making on my own came from a children's cookbook: mashed banana mixed with plain yogurt and lemon juice. And the candy Smarties was the last topping. You might be surprised to know that I still occasionally make this. Although I swap the Smarties for granola in my grown-up version.
Is there a particular food you hope will be added to this series?
My publisher and I begin each new book in the series by discussing potential food ideas together. The recipe can't be too simple or too complex. It has to fit nicely within the set page count because each book has had the same number of pages so far. We also try to avoid repeating similar steps across books. This means we look for recipes that feel distinct. We also prefer to alternate between sweet and savory dishes. I will confess that we have already chosen the recipe for the next book. But I can't reveal that just yet! --Rachel Werner, author and teaching artist at The Loft Literary Center and Lighthouse Writers Workshop