Scarsdale children’s author pens second book

In Emily Snook, Laura Bower serves up a tale of a girl with big dreams.

BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK

Author! Author! Bower hopes her book's character will inspire children.

Getting a book published means you’re an author. Getting a second book published means you’re a great author—and Scarsdale resident Laura Bower has earned this honorific. Her new title, Emily Snook, the World’s Smallest Cook, will hit bookshelves on October 8th, and Bower hopes kids will take its optimistic message to heart.

Lovin’ Spoonfuls

“The book is about is about a little girl named Emily, and she enters an international cooking competition, She has watched and cooked with her grandfather since she's been little, and he's sort of been her inspiration,” Bower shared. “So, with his encouragement, Emily enters an international cooking competition.”

There’s a catch, however: the young child discovers she missed the fine print stating it’s a advanced competition. “Everyone is older and taller and bigger than her, so she faces big challenges throughout the competition, but then ultimately ends up using her size to her advantage,” Bower explained. “It’s definitely a story of perseverance, believing in yourself, and not giving up on your dream. And it's got a lot of fun food analogies and food descriptions in it.”

After public relations, a new passion

Bower’s second book is actually a part of her second act. “I had thought about children’s book writing once I gave birth to my first daughter, which was in 2010,” she shared. "I had left the public relations firm I was working at, and I wanted to try something new. I was going to be staying home with Avery, and I just was thinking about other things that I could do. “ Bower went on to have two more children, and then began to take more interest in writing kiddie lit in 2016. “I started to sign up for classes and go to [children’s authors’] conferences. I had all three of my kids at that point, and they were just a little bit older, and it was just making it easier for me to do that,” she said.

Another of Bower’s preliminary moves was to take a class on the basics of writing children’s books through the Scarsdale Adult School. “I signed up for that and I just fell in love,” she remembered. “And then our teacher actually did a part two of the class, where she invited a small group of people that had taken her first class into her home in Westchester. It was just so awesome when I was just starting. She was an established author and illustrator, and had made such beautiful books, and I went to her house, all her drawings and designs and books were on display. The display was really, I think, a pivotal moment for me. It was really cool.”

A recipe for success  "My tagline for the book is "dream big," Bower says.

Writer meets publisher

Half the battle of becoming a published author is finding the person willing to make you one. For Bower, the stroke of luck came at an annual conference of a society for children’s book writers and illustrators. “I met a writer there, and when she created her publishing company a couple of years later, I reached out to her with a couple of stories.” The woman ended up signing Bower’s first book, The Imposter, and then Emily Snook. “I think the timing was great, so I'm really, really thankful,” Bower says.

The book’s illustrator, Rekha Salin, captured Emily Snook’s true spirit, Bower feels. “I can't stop looking at Emily. I just think she's so adorable….I had visions of Emily in my head, but she came out even better than I expected,” she said. “I love the color palette [Salin] uses, these really bright, vivid, fun colors. She also created the grandpa character, and the other competitors in the competition. They all have their own unique style and unique flair.” Bower is now working with a company to create an Emily Snook plush toy.

Spreading the word on Snook

Bower plans to publicize her book with visits to schools, libraries, and bookstores, ”I have some lined up for the fall already, which is great,” she said.“[Gnome Road] is terrific at creating social media posts and just keeping up the buzz about their books. I’m also going to participate in my first book festival, the Warwick Children’s Book Festival, [October 13th] I'll have a booth and I'll be able to sell both books to the attendees. So, that's exciting!”

While Emily Snook is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, Bower is also working closely with Scarsdale’s own Bronx River Books. “When I work with schools, I also like to create an order form where people can order directly from them, just to [support a] local business,” she says. And then there’s always world of mouth. “I really hope the book is inspiring for kids. A lot of times, kids are they're told they're too little to do something, or they're not old enough yet to do something,” Bower said. “My tagline for this book is to dream big. And I do think that's so important, especially in today's times, to have your mind focused on something and not give up, and be determined that your wildest and biggest dreams can come through.”

Emily Snook, the World’s Smallest Cook; available at Bronx River Books, 37 Spencer Pl, Scarsdale, (914) 420-6396; https://www.bronxriverbooks.com; $18.99 at Barnes & Noble; order here. To order from Amazon, click here.