Background

Annabel Jane Elizabeth Karmel was born on March 10, 1957, in North London, United Kingdom, to Gordon and Evelyn Etkind, an interior designer.

Education

Annabel Karmel studied at St Paul’s Girls’ School London and then continued her studies at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Royal College of Music London.

Career

Karmel's career as an author of cookbooks started with The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner in 1991 – a book that has become the 2nd best-selling non-fiction hardback of all time. It was a legacy to her first child Natasha who sadly died of a viral infection when she was just 3 months old.

Feeling vulnerable when her son Nicholas came along, she wanted to give him the very best foods. But she’d landed herself the world’s fussiest eater. So she rolled up her sleeves and set to work on cooking-up inventive combinations that Nicholas would love. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that these would culminate in a cookbook that would go on to sell over 4 million copies worldwide. She has since published other books and has worked as a consultant with manufacturers like Marks and Spencer. In August 2006 she launched ‘Make Your Own…’ A range of equipment for making one's own baby food.

Annabel writes regularly for national United Kingdom newspapers including The Times, The Daily Mail and the Sunday Mirror, and also contributes to Practical Parenting, BBC Good Food, and Sainsbury's Magazine. She is the children’s celebrity chef on the BBC website and also appears frequently on radio and television. She completed a series on the Richard & Judy Show, like the Foodie Godmother where she traveled around the United Kingdom solving the problems of fussy eaters. She also filmed a 10 part series with Sky Active called Mummy That's Yummy.

In 2007, Annabel launched a range of food products for children called Eat Fussy with Sainsbury's supermarket in the UK. In 2010, Annabel launched a range of ambient and organic sauces and pastas to all the major UK supermarkets. In 2010 Annabel teamed up with Disney to make a range of healthy snacks that are stocked in all major UK supermarkets. In 2011 Annabel aired her TV show Annabel's Kitchen, commissioned for CITV, with major sponsors being Fairy Liquid and Procter and Gamble.

Currently, Karmel is a patron for the charity Julia's House, a hospice dedicated to children with life-limiting conditions. She is also working closely with CLIC Sargent in 2013 on 'The Great Mums Get Together' campaign.

Achievements

• Annabel Karmel has pioneered the way families all over the world feed their babies and children. Credited with starting a food revolution with her trusty recipes and methods, she has become the UK’s No.1 children’s cookery author, best-selling international author, and the mother of all feeding experts with 45 cookbooks.
  
  The recipes she created were a hit with her friends, and her husband eventually persuaded her to write them down and have them published. She went on to publish several more children’s cookbooks, which sold more than one million copies worldwide, and she was soon heralded as an international expert on child nutrition.
  
  Karmel has also written a regular column for the Sun featuring her recipes, and her first children’s cookbook. The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, has been translated into several languages.
  
  Karmel was awarded an Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire in June 2006 in the Queen"s Birthday Honours for her work in the field of child nutrition. In 2009, Karmel won the LIfetime Achievement Award at the Mother and Baby Awards.

Works

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  • Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy B

    (This essential collection of best-ever purees by British ...)

    2009
  • Healthy Baby Meal Planner

    (More than two hundred recipes for homemade baby food--inc...)

    1992
  • Top 100 Finger Foods: 100 Recipes for a Healthy, Happy Child

    (Following up on her hit bestseller Top 100 Baby Purees, B...)

    2009
  • Children's First Cookbook

    (Annabel Karmel has been writing best-selling cookbooks fo...)

    2005
  • Top 100 Meals in Minutes: Quick and Easy Meals for Babies and Toddlers

    (From a leading children’s food expert and the bestselling...)

    2011
  • Starting Solids: The essential guide to your baby's first foods

    (Packed with simple, practical advice for the initial stag...)

    2010
  • Mom and Me Cookbook

    (The perfect cookbook for teaching little ones the joy of ...)

    2005
  • First Meals Revised: Fast, healthy, and fun foods to tempt infants and toddlers

    (Completely revised, this updated cookbook bursts with doz...)

    2008
  • Quick and Easy Weaning

    (Weaning your baby can be a tricky milestone for any paren...)

    2014
  • Baby's First Year: Memories for Life - A Keepsake Journal of Milestone Moments

    (This book will become a wonderful and unique memento of t...)

    2008
  • Real Food Kids Will Love: Over 100 simple and delicious recipes for toddlers and up

    (Annabel Karmel brings you a mouth-watering batch of never...)

    2011
  • The Fussy Eaters' Recipe Book: 135 Quick, Tasty and Healthy Recipes that Your Kids Will Actually Eat

    (In The Fussy Eaters' Recipe Book, Annabel shows how to sn...)

    2007
  • The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner

    (Since it was published in 1991, Annabel Karmel's essentia...)

    1991
  • You Can Cook

    (The latest book from bestselling DK author Annabel Karmel...)

    2010
  • Superfoods: For Babies and Children

    (SuperFoods is both a cookbook and a reference manual that...)

    2001
  • Weaning

    (Wean your baby confidently and safely, with guidance from...)

    2010
  • The Healthy Baby Meal Planner: 200 Quick, Easy, and Healthy Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler

    (The Healthy Baby Meal Planner shows parents how to start ...)

    1992
  • Top 100 Meals in Minutes: All New Quick and Easy Meals for Babies and Toddlers

    (Time with your children is precious to every parent, so y...)

    2011
  • Feeding Your Baby and Toddler

    (Comprehensive and illustrated guide to feeding the very y...)

    1999
  • I Can Eat A Rainbow

    (From nutrition expert Annabel Karmel comes a series of bo...)

    2009
  • Top 100 Pasta Dishes: Easy Everyday Recipes That Children Will Love

    (Who doesn’t love pasta? For most kids - and their parents...)

    2010
  • Lunchboxes

    (In this indispensable book Annabel tackles the daily task...)

    2003
  • The Toddler Cookbook

    (This is the perfect toddler cookbook for parents and chil...)

    2008
  • Mumpreneur: The complete guide to starting and running a successful business

    (In Mumpreneur, Annabel reveals the secrets of her success...)

    2015
  • My Favorite Recipes

    (Everyone eats, but not everyone eats well. From main dish...)

    2011
  • Weaning Made Simple 2020
  • Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes 2013
  • Cook It Together! 2009
  • Busy Mum's Cookbook 2016

Views

Quotations: “I never thought about writing a book. I just wanted to help my own child, having seen how vulnerable they are at a young age, having lost a child.”

“Children are exacting critics and while they are rarely interested in whether their food is healthy for them, they do care if it tastes good. Accordingly all the recipes in my books are tested on a panel of young children and are designed to combine ‘child appeal’ with sound nutritional principles."

“I am now the mother of three children, Nicholas, Lara, and Scarlett, and as a busy working mother myself, I have experienced first hand the difficulties of feeding young children. After the tragic loss of my first child at a very young age, I spent two years researching extensively the subject of feeding young children, interviewing leading child nutritionists and paediatricians. A trained Cordon Bleu cook, I combined my findings with my own experiences and knowledge of cooking, and worked together with a consultant nutritionist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children to produce my first book.”

Personality

Annabel Karmel was once a professional harpist, but the death of her first child from encephalitis at thirteen weeks changed that. She soon had another child, Nicholas. To keep him healthy, she researched what foods helped to bolster an infant’s immune system. However, Nicholas was a very picky eater. Karmel, who had once trained as a chef at the Cordon Bleu, started experimenting in her kitchen, searching for nutritious foods that her son would eat.

Connections

In 1984, Annabel married Simon Karmel. The couple broke up in 2004. They have three children: Nicholas, Lara and Scarlett. Annabel and Simon also had a daughter Natasha Karmel, born in 1987 (ca.). Unfortunately, the girl died the same year, age under a year old.

Currently, Annabel Karmel has a relationship with Stephen Margolis.

Ex-husband:

Simon Karmel

Simon Karmel is an Executive Oil Broker.

Son:

Nicholas Karmel

Born in 1989.

Daughter:

Lara Karmel

Born in 1990.

Daughter:

Scarlett Karmel

Born in 1992.

Daughter:

Natasha Karmel

1989 - 1989

Partner:

Stephen Margolis

Stephen Margolis is a lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in the film industry. Since founding Future Films in 2000, he has been involved in raising over £2 billion for film production and has acted as Producer, Executive Producer or Financier for more than 30 titles including: Cracks, Veronika Decides to Die, Flawless and Ladies in Lavender.

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series brings researchers the most recent data on the worlds most-popular authors.
  2010