anna woltz illustrations

posted by the scholar on November 12th, 2007
filed under: art, food, for kids, illustration, words

beloved readers, you may find the little snippets about my life to be a tad dull, but hey, for me this is a creative outlet and a place to seek inspiration and a space to get personal. is that not the essence of the interweb? anyway, today i will tell you that when i was a youngster, i went to a small school where i was the only asian kid. in the whole school. and i can’t really even call myself asian, i am a halfsie pacific islander, being a happy-go-lucky filipino half the time! knowing i was the only one there made it a surreal experience at times, especially when kids would try and guess what nationality i was. i wonder if the reaction would have been the same if this wonderful illustrated book from colorado artist anna woltz had been available then. anna has created a playful soft cover illustrated book and toddler tees which feature a multicultural culinary alphabet lesson for her company, wondertoast. check it out:

anna_woltz_wondertoast_book_coveranna_woltz_wondertoast_book_interior

anna_woltz_kimchee

anna_woltz_nigiri

anna_woltz_kimchee_kid

i think this is such a terrific way to engage a child’s curiosity while educating them about food and other cultures. maybe if these had been around back in the day, i wouldn’t have been bombarded with that pesky “are you hawaiian?” question all the time. and i actually think the whole alphabet featured as a fun oversized print would be a marvelous piece of art in a kid’s room, or anyone’s kitchen for that matter.

thank you so much for the photos, anna!

buy her adorable and very affordable items at wondertoast, and find anna on her art blog or baby blog.


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8 Responses to “anna woltz illustrations”

  1. Hi5 Codes Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

    Awww… I like the childs shirt. Very cute!

  2. the scholar Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    hi hi5,

    yes, those shirts are too darling!

    nice to see you!

  3. Anna Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    Thanks so much! Your childhood story is exactly why I wanted to do a project like this. It’s so important for children to be exposed to different foods and cultures…before they’re trained to be afraid of them.

    I should also mention that L is for Lumpia…for all the other Philipino kids out there! ^_^

  4. the scholar Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    hi anna,

    yes yes yes! i wholeheartedly agree with you! thanks again for all your info and your creative mind!

    and now i need to see that lumpia letter — they are so delicious (and i don’t just mean the food!). 😀

  5. Bri Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

    Being the great foodie and specifically kid friendly foodie that I am, I LOVE this food alphabet! It’s so wonderful of you to feature it, and I also enjoyed learning more about who you are.
    My hubs, Marc, is half white and half black, and was the ONLY “brown” kid growing up. Now he’s (what I like to call) ambiguously ethnic. Where ever we are, the native people of that area think he’s one of them. People often speak Spanish to him, and then I answer. When we were in Maui, Hawaiians thought he was Hawaiian!
    I am a firm believer that whenever you think a new food is strange or foreign, just remember that someone’s mom lovingly made that when they were growing up. Doesn’t seem so strange then, huh?
    I would love to have a big print of the whole alphabet like that up in my kid’s room. My kids are SO going to school with falafel, goat cheese, persimmon, and artichokes in their lunches. (Not necessarily in the same lunch, of course.) 🙂
    Thanks Gigi! And thanks Ana for your great work!

  6. the scholar Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 8:41 am

    hi bri,

    i knew i had to put anna’s work up here after i saw her alphabet — i really like it! and it tells such an important lesson in the funniest of ways…

    your kids will be envied for having the best lunches in the school with such a talented mom dreaming up those meals. 😀

    nice to see you!

  7. sosser Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    wonderful post! your personal snippets are a treat!

    growing up a wasp, the most interesting thing in my home was the ukranian meals served at holidays and the wax-decorated eggs we made for easter. i widened the ethnic food horizons for my son, who took to the flavors and is an adventurous eater to this day. bravo, anna!

  8. the scholar Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

    hi sosser,

    thanks for tolerating the personal snippets, i so enjoy telling them…

    cheers to your palette expanding life lessons that you’ve passed along to the next generation. the boy probably knows all of anna’s alphabet already!

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