Chicago Edible Book Festival

By Betsy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 31, 2010 6:00PM

2007 Most Book-Like Winner: \"The Giving Tree\"

2009 Entry: \"The Marzipan Chronicles\"

2009 Entry: \"The Devil Wears Prada\"

2009 Entry: \"The Catcher in the Rye\"

2009 Entry: \"The Art of Landscape Quilting\"

2009 Entry

2009 Entry: \"One Flew Over the Cuckoo\'s Nest\"

2009 Entry: \"Flan of Chicago\"

2008 Entry: \"The Missing Piece\"

2007 Most Tasteful Winner: \"Tortilla Flats\"

2007 Entry: \"The Tortoise & the Ha(i)re\"

2007 Entry: \"The Wizard of Olives\"

2007 Entry: \"The Jungle\"

2007 Entry: \"Of Rice and Uncle Ben\"

2007 Entry: \"The Pillow Book.\"

Every year, bookish cooks and chefs from New Zealand to Morocco participate in the International Edible Book Festival. The themes, awards, and prizes vary depending on location and the year, but the rules are always the same: It can look like a book. It can act like a book. It can be a pun on a book. But whatever it is, it must be edible.

Once again, Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book & Paper Arts and The Columbia College Library are hosting this year's Chicago festival. This year's theme is children's books. "Children's books are deceptively simple, yet loaded with powerful imagery and narrative; their charm and whimsy have captivated the imagination and hearts of many generations," a press release explained. They have 21 registered entries and are giving awards for Best in Show, Most Book-Like, Best Visual Pun, Best Presentation and Most Likely to be Devoured.

You'll only have one hour to see the entries before prizes are awarded and the books are devoured. So if you'd like to check out tomorrow's Edible Book Festival, get there before 7 p.m.! To learn more about the international festival and see past entries from all over the world, visit the Books2Eat site.

11th Annual Edible Books and Tea, Columbia College Library, 624 S. Michigan Avenue, 3rd Floor, tomorrow at 6 p.m., $10 here or at the door