Mother’s Day Thoughts on Julia and Cats

From Authors Patricia Barey and Therese Burson

Julia’s Cats: Julia Child’s Life in the Company of Cats [Patricia Barey & Therese Burson] explores the beloved Queen of Cuisine’s lifelong passion for pussycats, which she discovered along with the other great loves of her life – French food and her true vocation – when she and husband Paul moved to Paris in 1948. Minette came to help rid their kitchen of mice, but the “sly, gay, cream-and-mud-colored little thing” won their hearts and became an essential part of their household.

Enter to win a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel Valentine’s Day Prize Pack!

One Copy of the Book, Greg Heffley Tattoos, An Official Third Wheel Magnet, and Chocolate

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner— tomorrow to be exact. And what’s on our minds here at Amulet Books? Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel, of course!

Enter to win a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel Valentine’s Day prize pack! Included in the prize pack (pictured) is one copy of the book, Greg Heffley tattoos, an official Third Wheel magnet, and chocolate. You’ll win the same kind of chocolate that was given to every Abrams employee on the official release day!

Cookie Swap at The Powerhouse Arena

Meet and Mingle With Authors

Sweet love is in the air – and in your mouth! Tomorrow night from 7-9pm, Powerhouse Arena is inviting you to a baking celebrity-studded cookie swap. Bring a batch of your favorite cookies, along with an empty container, and you could go home with a tin full of cookies. Meet and mingle with Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen), Dawn Casale (One Girl Cookies), Adam Roberts (Secrets of the Best Chefs), and our very own Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito (Baked Elements)! Invite below for more details.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A King Family Tribute

On January 15, 2013, Martin Luther King Jr. would have celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday. For a great many reasons, his absence is felt by all, but nowhere more profoundly than in the homes and hearts of his family.

WELCOME BACK and HAPPY NEW NEW YEAR!

New Years Wishes From ABRAMS President and CEO Michael Jacobs

It’s amazing what a holiday break can do for the spirit and body and soul. I’m hoping that these past eleven days–over Christmas and Kwanzaa and New Year’s–helped to re-charge your battery, provided a much needed break from routine and created some time and space to stretch out, to think or just relax with family and friends and with yourself.

ABRAMS Pinterest Boards for Last-Minute Gift Ideas

Unique Presents and Party Ideas

A confession: I haven’t done any of my holiday shopping.

Well, let me backtrack a bit; I’ve bought a few things, mostly small and falling in the “ancillary gift” category, but we’re getting down to the wire now and ABRAMS calendars for the whole family isn’t going to cut it.

If you’re in a similar pickle, I recommend Pinterest—no, not to distract yourself with photos of dream homes, foreign places, or fanciful desserts, but to find last-minute gifts.* We asked three of our colleagues to curate boards featuring unique presents and party ideas, many of which can be quickly made or quickly shipped.

Sweet Christmas With Sharon Bowers

Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Nearly everyone likes sweet stuff now and then, and lots of people bake. But why don’t more people make candy at home? Well, probably because it always seems to involve a lot of hassle and specialty equipment. Any recipe that requires you to first go buy silicone molds, or glycerin, or various tips and nozzles —anything you can’t get at the grocery store, really—is usually not the first one where you dog-ear the page in a new cookbook. I know because I’m precisely that sort of a lazy cook myself, and if I’m going to bother with a specialty project, it needs to be easy. And fun. Pretty fast. And delicious.

ABRAMS Family, Jeff Kinney, And The 2012 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Balloon Returns for a Third Consecutive Year

2012 marked the 3rd appearance of the giant helium Greg Heffley Wimpy Kid balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It is always exciting to walk, but even more so when the weather is terrific. it was in the 40s—NICE! This year we had a terrific group of ABRAMS employees walk wth the ballon. Some were relative veterans, others totally new to the experience. View photos from the parade after the break!

Wimpy Kid In The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love parades. It’s true! I’ve been on the sidelines of parades for years while my kids were in marching band, but my favorite is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade which I am lucky enough to march in. I’ve marched in the last two Thanksgiving Day Parades and it has been an extraordinary experience and surprisingly hard work. Read some interesting balloon facts after the break!

A Sweet Passover

Author Lesléa Newman talks about her favorite holiday

Like Miriam, the little girl in A Sweet Passover, I love everything about the holiday. As a child, I loved the days before Passover when I helped my mother take down the special dishes we only used this time of year. I loved our many trips to the supermarket, where we found boxes of matzah piled high as the Wailing Wall. I eagerly awaited the arrival of my grandmother who kissed me on the cheek leaving a bright red lipstick mark, and then rolled up her sleeves, headed for the kitchen, and went right to work. And I loved the seder itself, with my father at the head of the table, his yarmulke perched on his head like a beanie; my mother and grandmother sitting with their aprons on, ready to jump up and tend to the food; my brothers reading aloud quickly in Hebrew to speed up the seder when we all got really hungry; and my dog lying at my feet, hoping for a morsel of matzah.