food activities

What To Do with a Parsnip?

READ A PARSNIP, COLOR A PARSNIP…. DRESS A PARSNIP?!

A fairytale mashup with parsnips, two parsnip coloring pages and a parsnip paper doll to design a wardrobe for…. Sure, parsnips are delicious and nutritious, but who knew they could be so much fun?!

One of the coloring pages below comes from the cover illustration of my picture book Once Upon a Parsnip, illustrated by the wonderful Ben Mann. The other is a portrait of the Divine Ms. P–Penelope Parsnip, the Story Queen’s mascot and traveling companion. Parsnips tend to be a bit pale, but this particular parsnip’s outfit shouldn’t be by the time your kids get through with it! The Penelope Paper Doll is the giddy creation of Vancouver, Washington crafter Miriam Giles. Put on your maker hat and get ready for some parsnip fun!

A WHOLE NEW MEANING FOR “DRESSING YOUR VEGGIES”

If a psychic had told me a year ago that I’d be dressing veggies for a living, I’d have thought, “Hmm. I’m going to be working in a vegetarian restaurant, maybe? Or prepping a salad bar?”

If only life were so simple!

Penelope Parsnip was born in the midst of a Story Queen tour to California. I was two weeks into a six-week road trip presenting young author assemblies in schools and promoting my newest book, Once Upon a Parsnip, in libraries, bookstores and various other venues. I’d been documenting my trip on social media and wanted to continue sharing the tour, but honestly, I was getting tired of posting selfies.

I needed a mascot. Plus, it was getting lonely on the road; I needed a traveling companion!

10 FUN FACTS ABOUT PARSNIPS

Parsnips are a recent discovery for me–and only because I published a picture book in 2016 called Once Upon a Parsnip! When I wrote the story, it was just the word I liked, and the way it rolled off the tongue with “Once Upon a…” I had never actually eaten a parsnip until a friend cooked up a batch of apple-parsnip soup and served it at a luncheon. De-lish! (The recipe is included in Once Upon a Parsnip.) After the manuscript became an actual book I could hold in my hands, I decided I needed to learn a little more about this par-snippety root vegetable.

INSPIRED PEPITAS: KID-FRIENDLY RECIPES

Let’s face it: Kids like to snack. We all like to snack! And it’s so easy to toss a bag of tortilla chips or potato chips in your grocery cart….

And they are OH-so-lacking in nutritional value!

A serving of tortilla chips, for example, has 2 grams of protein–compared to the 21 grams in a serving of Spicy Jamaican Jerk Pepitas.

2 COLORING PAGES: PRETTY PUMPKINS & A JACK-O-LANTERN

Coloring isn’t just for kids anymore. For the last couple of years, coloring books for adults have literally kept the book business alive. There’s something about coloring that soothes the soul. Some avid “color-istas” even host coloring parties, no kids allowed!

Taking time to color a pretty picture is great for those of us whose lives are hurried and harried and who need to slow down. (And I’m afraid that describes a whole lot of adults these days–me included.) But coloring with your kids has additional benefits: it creates connections. It lets your kids know that they’re important to you, and that time spent together is as much fun for you as it is for them.