Francie Dekker Teaches About the World through Dumplings in Her New Children’s Book

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Meet Francie Dekker, a Chicago native who planted her roots in Wisconsin when taking a job at Wellspring Education Center and Organic Farm as their education coordinator in 2012. She joined the University of Wisconsin Extension team in Milwaukee and worked for five years supporting healthy food access for families in Milwaukee County. She’s always been passionate about teaching kids to garden and teaching them about how our food gets to our tables and the stories it brings along the way. Now, she’s living in New Berlin with her husband and two kids and can officially call herself a published author with her first children’s book Our World of Dumplings.

How did you come up with your idea for Our World of Dumplings? What was your inspiration?

I love exploring, cooking and eating cuisines from around the world. In doing so, I realized how many cultures have their own variation on a dumpling. As a child, I never appreciated my family’s Polish food traditions. I was inspired to write Our World of Dumplings as a way to connect young readers to their food heritage, as well as to expose youth to similar dishes from around the world. While we may come from different places, and speak many languages, I believe the best way to get to know someone is over a plate of something delicious. 

Have you written other children's books before or do you plan to again in the future?

This is the first picture book I’ve published! I’m always writing stories and have a few new manuscripts my agent is pitching to publishers. Some are about food, and some are about completely different topics.

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Researching which dumplings to include in the book was the part of the writing process that took the longest. First off, there is no one universal definition agreed on by chefs, food historians, food lovers, etc. of “what is a dumpling?” So, after years (no joke) of research, and lots of debates with friends and family, I developed my own “definition” for the purpose of the book that is included in the book’s back matter. 

In selecting which dumplings to include in the story, I tried to choose a range based on geography and cooking techniques. In some of the story’s original drafts, about a quarter of the dumplings are different from the final book!

I had such a long list of potential dumplings, we decided to include them in the back matter for the book. And this connects back to what gave me the idea for this story: While we all come from different places and cultures, a shared love of dumplings is something we have in common.

What was your publishing process like?

Everyone says publishing your first book takes a long time, and that’s the truth! I started researching and writing Our World of Dumplings back in 2017. Researching dumplings and deciding which ones to include in the book took the most time! Once I finished the original manuscript in 2018, I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to figure out how to find a publisher.

SCBWI has so many resources including The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children. From there I determined that I wanted to go the traditional publishing route and started reaching out to literary agents. I eventually signed with Ariana Philips at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. Ariana sent out the manuscript to publishers and Our World of Dumplings was purchased by little bee books in December 2020. The book will be published on September 6, 2022, so from start to finish, it took about five years to publish.

What’s next on your creative endeavor list?

Finding time to write all the stories ideas bouncing around in my head is with two toddlers at home is an endeavor. The other day I pulled over to jot down the intro to a new idea on the back of my daughter’s coloring sheet—the only piece of paper I could find in my car!

Our World of Dumplings launch event, reading and signing is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 at Boswell Book Company. The event is free but registration required at franciedekkermke.eventbrite.com.

You can preorder a signed copy of the book through Boswell by indicating “signed copy, please” in  boswellbooks.com/book/9781499812343.