Today is usually Woman Crush Wednesday, the day I save for my female chefs.  I recreate one of their recipes live on Snapchat (my username is blissbakery) and I post a love story about the honoree on here.  But today I am in America visiting my family.  I will take a break from the kitchen to devote the precious time to them.  However, I am sharing a little story about a special someone,  Freddy Buttons. 
His mom (the creator of the book series) Fiona Dillon was one of my Woman Crush Wednesday recipients. I made her delicious Mahatma Muffins recipe taken from the first book in the series, Freddy Buttons and the Little Lost Hen, which you can see if you click here.

But not long after that day I was invited to a fabulous tea party at the Ariel House in Dublin where I was able to see Fiona again and meet Freddy in person for the first time. It was very exciting to say the least.

The food at the tea party was incredible too. And Freddy Buttons’ own  apple crumble was one of the stars of the food display!  The recipe for which can be found in his fifth book in the series, Freddy Buttons and the Apple Bandits.

And there were loads of awesome folks there to celebrate Freddy’s accomplishments.

Though I spoke of it a bit on Fiona’s WCW story, I just wanted to share some special things that you need to know if you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, students or even neighbors from the ages of 3-8 in your life . The Freddy Buttons book series needs to be on your Christmas list for them. I am not paid or sponsored to say this but as a mom, grandma and former preschool teacher I have a personal attachment to children’s literature.  As a chef I am also a strong believer in children learning to cook.

 

These books are the perfect literature marriage of life skills and culinary learning!  The Freddy Buttons’ characters come alive as they solve problems, build friendships, have fun and learn to cook!  With a simple to follow recipe at the end of each book, children are encouraged to get in the kitchen and make some awesome healthy food!

The illustrations are colorful and charming and the soft book cover makes them easy to transport in a book bag without being too heavy. The writing is whimsical and so entertaining.  My five year granddaughter Harper gave these books a double thumbs up. We love reading them together and as a beginning reader she can follow along.  She said,  “I love Freddy Buttons, his books are perfect!”. She especially loves the “Did You Know” fun fact page at the end of the book with 6-8 different interesting things about the topic in the story.

There is a special on now for a set of 6 books. They are usually 25 euro for the set and with a code you get 10 euro off.  So that is only 15 euro for all six books!   And if you already have the set, you might want to get another to keep on hand for a child’s birthday party gift in the future. All I can say is I wished Freddy Buttons was around when I was teaching I would have loved to have introduced my students to a whole new family of friends.

LOVE the FBI (Freddy Buttons Investigators),

YDP

P.S. As I previously mentioned I was not paid or sponsored to write this post. I received a book complementary in a goodie bag at the IBA conference as did all the attendees.  I met Fiona Dillon at the Dream it Do it event and began corresponding with her.  She sent me the remaining 5 books to give to my granddaughter.  It was a lovely gesture on her part but there was no expectation that I would write a glowing review.  And I have already ordered and paid for a set (at full price) to give as a gift to a dear friend’s child.  Because I truly believe from first hand experience the importance of quality children’s literature and the incorporation of cooking as a means of learning important concepts such as math, chemistry and problem solving. There is no better gift to give a child than learning! So click on this link now to order! Like me, you will be happy you did!