The State Fair of Texas’ Funnel Cake Factory owner published her first children’s book, Cosmo’s Flying Funnel Cakes, on Aug. 27. It’s the first of many books to come.
“I truly feel like this is a calling and what I'm meant to do; I'm meant to write these books,” Jannotta says.
The author’s debut book is inspired by her son’s childhood and her experiences working at the State Fair of Texas, where she has been involved since 1989. Naturally, her first book is set at the family business during her only child’s early years.
Cosmo’s Flying Funnel Cakes imagines a world where Jannotta’s son Cosmo worked at the family’s funnel cake booth. It’s a daydream in tangible form.
“He's never actually worked the booth, but I've always wanted him,” Jannotta says. “In a way, it's my mom fantasy. This is kind of how I imagine it would be if he was with me.”
The Funnel Cake Factory owner moved to Illinois with her husband and son when he was 6. She has returned to Dallas annually for the State Fair of Texas.
“I'd have to leave every fall, I'd have to leave my family and go work the fair,” the author says. “I missed them. I always had his picture at the booth as a way to have him there.”
This image of her soon, Cosmo, inspired Allyson Jannotta to write a children's book.
Allyson Jannotta
In that photo, a middle-school-aged Cosmo poses for a makeshift marketing photoshoot in their Illinois backyard. He’s holding a funnel cake. The way he’s holding the funnel cake makes it look like the sugar-coated deep-fried delicacy is floating. The image amazed a Funnel Cake Factory patron about eight years ago.
“He said, ‘How did he make the funnel cake float?’ That's what sparked the idea,” Jannotta says.
For years, that memory fermented in the vendor’s head, only to be excavated when her son left home for college. With her newfound time, Jannotta wrote 12 children's books during her son’s freshman year of college.
“You miss your kid when you become an empty nester so [writing the book], it's kind of a way to fill that void,” she says.
Jannotta pulls inspiration from the tiny annoyances of everyday life, such as the early-rising chirping bird she dubbed Mr. Bengals. Other stories are inspired by sentimental memories such as the cherished “Mommy and Cosmo days” she spent with her son.
Cosmo’s Flying Funnel Cakes is the first of Jannotta's books to be published. Jannotta self-published to maintain creative control.
“I really wanted to self-publish because I wanted to be in control of what we looked like. It’s got real people in it,” she says.
The personal subject matter required someone who would capture her son’s essence to a tee. Oklahoma-based illustrator Kathy Lee nailed it.
“My first thought when I saw it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, his hair looks like a funnel cake,’” Jannotta says with a chuckle. “That's Cosmo when he was little. You only have that time when they're little, and then when they grow up all of a sudden, and you can never turn them into that age again.”
The book is also the story of Jannotta’s three-plus decades as a fair vendor.
Food Flight
Jannotta has grown up at the State Fair of Texas. Her mother and sister began the booth when she was 19 years old. She met her husband there a decade later. Despite a hiatus for college, every fall has been spent at the fair. Cosmo’s Flying Funnel Cakes pays homage to her fair family.
Kathy Lee illustrated the State Fair of Texas-inspired book, Cosmo's Flying Funnel Cakes.
Illustration by Kathy Lee
“This is my story, but it's also their story, as well,” she says.
The debut book details a fair vendor’s day-to-day, including inventory checks and supply fulfillment. It’s what many family-owned vendors experience during that hectic month. It’s a lesson in physics, social-emotional learning and teamwork.
“In a lot of things in life everybody does the one part and we come back as a big whole and somehow it just works, that's part of the magic,” Jannotta says.
After the fair, Jannotta hopes to take her book on an educational tour. Her goals include reading to children in schools and demoing the science via spinning plate props. The Funnel Cake Factory team hopes to test those props at their Funway booth, FW34F.
From now until Oct. 20, Jannotta is frying up nostalgic goodness and celebrating a milestone that will carry her cherished memories beyond her lifetime.
“This book's gonna outlive me because it's all now that it's done, it's there,” Jannotta says. “It's gonna still be up there where my grandchildren can have a book and say, ‘This is ... this is what my family did.’ It's cool to have something, a piece of your story that does live on because we don't do anything forever.”
Cosmo’s Flying Funnel Cakes can be purchased online from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Visit AllysonJannotta.com for a full list of retailers.
