If you’re a parent, you know how hard it is to get kids to appreciate unfamiliar food. “I don’t like this” or “it’s gross” are common complaints. It’s not the kids’ fault: They don’t have the vocabulary or knowledge to understand food. THE SECRET OF THE SEVEN TASTES: A Flavorful Fairy Tale, a beautifully illustrated novel for children that connects the tastes on our tongues to universal emotions, sympathetic characters, and diverse cultures.

Swiftly moving, emotionally touching, and vibrantly illustrated, THE SECRET OF THE SEVEN TASTES is the story of a young girl, Olivia, who dreams of becoming a skilled chef just like her father Chef Maro, the proprietor of a restaurant. Following the death of Olivia’s mom, the two of them live alone. Olivia misses her mom a great deal – and her dad is always working. She really wants to help him cook, but he thinks she’s too young. Being good at tasting, he says, is a skill you have to learn.

One evening, as Olivia shares her sorrows with her cat Umi, the first of seven flavors comes to visit her. Over the course of seven nights, she is taken on a journey to discover the seven fundamental flavors – salty, spicy, sour, fatty, umami, bitter and sweet – and perfect her tasting skills.These colorful phantoms carry Olivia away with them to their own worlds, where they teach her all about their unique strengths. Along the way, Olivia also learns about the bittersweet things in life — the final friendly phantom is her recently lost mother, whose encouraging words help her to achieve her dreams. Will Olivia at last learn enough about tasting to help Maro in the kitchen?

Our literary agent is Sebes & Bisseling and the book will be published by Volt