April 04, 2014

‘Little Engine’ wins edible books contest

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- “The Little Engine That Could” took the top prize at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s fourth annual Edible Books Festival on April 1.

Jamie Hoffman, a snack bar supervisor at Delyte’s, made the intricate cake and icing creation to earn Best in Show honors and receive a Kindle e-Reader. The edible train was one of 19 creative entries in the event.

Liam Wrenn and his mother, Kim King-Wrenn, of Carbondale, won the People’s Choice Award. They placed a fudgy mouse and glass of “milk” atop a chocolate chip cookie for their fanciful entry, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

Other imaginative and creative “edible” prize-winning entries were:

• Punniest -- “50 Shades of Lays,” featuring painted potato chips, by Lacey Gibson, a senior physiology major from Carbondale.
• Best Book Structure -- “Berry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Scone,” by Stephanie Young, an MBA student from Carbondale.
• Best RSO (registered student organization) submission -- “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” from the Student Council for Exceptional Children. The RSO members won a pizza party from Primo’s Pizza.
• Least Edible -- “Thyme For a Bug/Time for a Hug,” by Linda Porter-Smith, library operations associate.
• Most Edible – “Holes,” by Mary Taylor, professor of library affairs.

The Edible Books Festival is a fun and thought-provoking way to promote literacy using food and word play. SIU Library Affairs and the Friends of Morris Library sponsored the event.

Find photos from the 2014 Edible Books Festival on the Morris Library Facebook page.