It’s no surprise that Greek Australian parents are always on the lookout for a brand new children’s book to help their children #KeepItGreek. Seeing a limited market, Greek Australian News Corp journalist Stephanie Timotheou decided to write her first children’s book, ‘Cooking with Yiayia’, part of a new bilingual book series ‘Ikoyenia‘.
Recently joining the world of motherhood with the birth of her daughter, Anthea, in 2018, Ms Timotheou decided to use her own writing experience to develop a four-part children’s book series that represented Greek families.
“Before Anthea was born, I was on the hunt for a really special book that I could give her future grandmothers, but I found it quite difficult to find what I was looking for,” Ms Timotheou, 29, says.
“After months of searching with no luck, I thought to myself, ‘why not write one of my own?’ and that’s exactly what I did.”
The new book series is titled ‘Ikoyenia’, translated from Greek as ‘family’. Her first book ‘Cooking with Yiayia’ is a bilingual rhyming book about one little Greek girl and the beautiful bond she has with her Yiayia through cooking.
The book is written in English and Greek to encourage children to learn the language.
“Cooking with Yiayia is designed so our Greek language and culture isn’t lost as generations go on,” Ms Timotheou says.
“My biggest fear is that when our grandparents and parents are gone, nobody is going to teach our children about Greek culture and the beautiful traditions we have.
“It’s something I really want for our future and this book depicts a lot of things we typically do in a Greek home.”
The three books to follow are Gardening with Pappou, Playtime with Baba and Bedtime with Mama.
Limited copies of Cooking with Yiayia can be pre-ordered at www.ikoyenia.bigcartel.com, expected to arrive in August 2020.
