The Sweets of Araby just published in paperback! Sawaya artwork praised by WSJ & Boston Globe!

The Sweets of Araby pastry cookbook which i illustrated and did cover design as well has just been published in a paperback edition. Countrymen Press, the publisher recently commissioned me to revise the cover for the paperback book! it has just been published in the early part of December, 2013, perfect timing for holiday gift giving!

one of the delightful things about the paperback edition is two of the three endorsements of the book praise my artwork…the Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe!

“Never before has so much oil, sugar, starch and spice been squeezed between two covers. Better to consume this whimsical, beautifully illustrated book one chapter at a time.”—Wall Street Journal

“The eye-catching colors of Linda Dalal Sawaya’s charming illustrations make this book one to savor in or out of the kitchen.”—Boston Globe

The Sweets of Araby illustrated by Linda Sawaya among NY Times Notable Books of 2011!

i was totally delighted this week to receive news from Countryman Press editor Kermit Hummel that The Sweets of Araby, which i had the pleasure of illustrating and designing the cover for, was selected as one of 18 NY Times Notable Cookbooks of 2011!!

the team at Countryman and the Salloum sisters (authors) were great to work with on this colorful and enchanting book of recipes based on the Tales from the 1001 Arabian Nights, providing me with excellent material for illustrating the 25 stories in the book. a unique holiday gift to yourself or your loved ones!

wall street journal review praises the illustrations in the sweets of araby

although the reviewer doesn't mention my name in the wall street journal online, mr. bakshian describes the sweets of araby, my latest book illustration project, as a "beautifully illustrated book". here's a link to the article which appeared july 2, 2011.


and this is good.


another painting from the sweets of araby for your pleasure is playful and of course colorful. illustrated by yours truly, linda dalal sawaya.

the sweets of araby reviewed in the boston globe!

delighted to see the first review of the sweets of araby in the boston globe! and especially delighted at their praise for my illustrations! "The eye-catching colors of Linda Dalal Sawaya’s charming illustrations make this book one to savor in or out of the kitchen."


here's one of my favorite illustrations from the book. as you can see i had such fun with this!

the sweets of araby cookbook published featuring linda sawaya illustrations and cover design

delighted to announce the publication of the cookbook i illustrated this past year—the sweets of araby—with twenty five interior illustrations and the cover illustration and graphic design featuring recipes based on the Tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights. a very fun project to work on with stories lending themselves to playful and colorful paintings. the book is published by countryman press, and is available from them, me, or amazon. 

in anticipation of the publication of this book, i have redesigned my art website with many of the illustrations from the book. please visit my site and make comments here letting me know how you like it all! my alice's kitchen cookbook pages are in process of being redesigned! 

the sweets of araby off to press!

the new year has started off with a bang, with my completion of twenty five illustrations for a new Arabic pastry cookbook being published in june by Countryman Press, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, plus the cover design and illustration shown here by yours truly, linda dalal sawaya. 

The Sweets of Araby went to press in early february for june publication! it has been a delight to work on this project, which features stories from the Tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights. the book's authors, Leila Salloum Elias and Muna Salloum are daughters of noted Lebanese-Canadian food author, Habib Salloum.

earlier posts on this project were in august and september. soon i will be posting a few more of the interior illustrations painted with acrylic paint on paper using tiny tiny brushes. would love to hear your comments!