Ella Phillips

SURROUNDED by calypso music and the aroma of ginger and spice, a small child searches for his grandmother.
Little Zee and his granny are the stars of a new book for young children, My Grandma’s Magic Recipes: Winter Warmth.

Its author Ella Phillips, who grew up in Archway and Holloway, wraps an “eat your veg” message in a toasty tale vibrantly illustrated by Camilla Sucre.

The story’s lively Grandma is “plant powered” – a description that could also apply to Ella, who credits dietary changes with boosting her wellbeing.

She told Review: “I had started to get panic attacks. I cut out refined sugar, ate lots of vegetables and whole food, and my panic attacks stopped. That was about eight years ago and I haven’t had one since.”

Her book is a tender affirmation of ties between grandchild and grandparent.

She said when her first child was born she saw “how instantly grandparents fell in love with him”.

And she uses rhyme to portray the loving relationship Zee has with his Grandma. They talk about winter, and the vegetables grown then.

Amid music, dancing, and enticing cooking smells, Zee looks for Grandma at a Christmas party in her house.

A couple of plant-based recipes – with coconut sugar rather than the refined variety – are included in the picture book, the first of Ella’s series of four that will chime with the seasons of the year and celebrate seasonal cooking.

Her family is hands-on in the kitchen, with her two sons, now aged five and two, helping with meal preparation, and she has held cooking classes for children.

Ella – who attended Parliament Hill School followed by City and Islington College – and her partner have a plant-based Caribbean food company, growing and cooking for supper clubs and events.

“We have an allotment and appreciate every bit of the year. We love being there together as a family,” she said.

The book’s descriptions of the festive get-together will capture the senses and imagination of its young audience.

My Grandma’s Magic Recipes: Winter Warmth

Grandma “sparkles like snowdrops”. Her green carpets “smell like pines”, big people “stand like trees”, and Zee encounters “plenty of knees”.

His heart “starts to race” as he pushes “through tree trunks of corduroy and lace”.

The evocative rhymes, combined with the pictures – dancing figures, the steel pans of the band, Grandma and Zee – create a vibrant impression that lasts long after the story ends.

There’s an added bonus as rhymes are believed to help young children’s learning development.

Illustrator Camilla, a Caribbean American artist from Trinidad, portrays the characters’ facial expressions and movement in captivating detail. Her kaleidoscope of colours instils a magical quality.

The heartwarming book is aimed at the three-plus age group.

Ella, who is also an artist, has more than a decade’s experience designing creative family workshops for museums nationwide.

Her career has included developing educational resources for museums and galleries and managing learning programmes.

She has worked with venues including the Postal Museum, Clerkenwell, Islington Museum and the Museum of London, as well as arts and community organisations, and schools.

Ella was chief of staff at The World Reimagined, an arts education project aimed at transforming our understanding of the transatlantic slave trade and its impact.

But she said she has always loved writing – she has a degree in English literature, plus a Master’s in fine art – and she began penning her children’s book rhymes on the train on her way to work at a west London arts, culture and community venue.

Zee finds Grandma in the kitchen, where there’s a smell of sweet ginger from the oven’s open door. Grandma tells a bedtime story, transporting him to a snowy magic dreamland.

Children can tackle the book’s two clearly set out recipes with adult help.

A gingerbread men biscuit recipe uses spelt flour, grated fresh ginger, coconut milk, coconut oil, stem ginger and coconut sugar.

Cocoa powder, coconut sugar and oat milk feature in a recipe for spiced hot chocolate, which is given a zing by cinnamon and ground nutmeg.

“I used to make gingerbread as a child, but I have adapted the recipe to make it healthier,” said Ella, who often uses honey or dates as sweetening in cooking.

Eschewing refined sugar seems to have ongoing results.

“My eldest son doesn’t care about sweets,” she said.

Ella will bring the book to life in an interactive storytelling session at the Postal Museum on November 16 and December 18.

The next book in the series is due to be published in March 2024.

• My Grandma’s Magic Recipes: Winter Warmth. By Ella Phillips, illustrated by Camilla Sucre. Simon & Schuster, £6.99
• Ella’s Instagram handle is @ellaphillipsbooks