A compendium for curious budding cooks of every stripe.
Multicultural residents living in an apartment block on Garden Street are cooking up a global smorgasbord. Mr. Ping (who appears Asian) stir-fries some broccoli, or “little trees” as his nephew Benjamin calls them. “Across the hall, Maria mashes avocados with a fork.” Maria and her mother (they have olive skin, black hair, dark eyes and appear to be Latinx) are making guacamole. Mr. Melville (who appears to be white) raises his knife to fillet a fish for sole meunière. Elsewhere in the building, Josef (a white boy with light brown hair) and Rafik (who presents black) together prepare meatballs with turkey, zucchini, and feta. Other neighbors are making coconut dal, miniquiches, and baba ganouj. For each spread, author/illustrator Sala renders delightful full-bleed pictures that showcase residents in action on the left and a visual recipe on the right. Each of these has detailed drawings of ingredients followed by easy-to-follow written instruction. With no more than six main ingredients each, the simple recipes feature global culinary traditions and fresh flavors. From kid favorites such as spaghetti al pomodoro and peanut-butter–and–chocolate-chip cookies to dishes with ingredients not as common in many North American kitchens (think tahini and fresh ginger), there are recipes for every palate. Finally, “everything is ready. It’s time to go downstairs.” In the final spread, the diverse community—of families, single parents, elderly folks, millennials, etc.—all gather in the garden for delicious food and fun company.
Part cookbook, part picture book, 100% delicious. (Cook/picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7397-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
Did you like this book?
Published in magazines, never seen since / Now resurrected for pleasure intense / Versified episodes numbering four / Featuring Marco, and Horton and more!
All of the entries in this follow-up to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (2011) involve a certain amount of sharp dealing. Horton carries a Kwuggerbug through crocodile-infested waters and up a steep mountain because “a deal is a deal”—and then is cheated out of his promised share of delicious Beezlenuts. Officer Pat heads off escalating, imagined disasters on Mulberry Street by clubbing a pesky gnat. Marco (originally met on that same Mulberry Street) concocts a baroque excuse for being late to school. In the closer, a smooth-talking Grinch (not the green sort) sells a gullible Hoobub a piece of string. In a lively introduction, uber-fan Charles D. Cohen (The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss, 2002) provides publishing histories, places characters and settings in Seussian context, and offers insights into, for instance, the origin of “Grinch.” Along with predictably engaging wordplay—“He climbed. He grew dizzy. His ankles grew numb. / But he climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum”—each tale features bright, crisply reproduced renditions of its original illustrations. Except for “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” which has been jammed into a single spread, the verses and pictures are laid out in spacious, visually appealing ways.
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38298-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charlie Bumpers is doomed. The one teacher he never wanted in the whole school turns out to be his fourth-grade teacher.
Charlie recalls third grade, when he accidentally hit the scariest teacher in the whole school with his sneaker. “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers,” she says menacingly on the first day of fourth grade. Now, in addition to all the hardships of starting school, he has gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Charlie’s dry and dramatic narrative voice clearly reveals the inner life of a 9-year-old—the glass is always half empty, especially in light of a series of well-intentioned events gone awry. It’s quite a litany: “Hitting Mrs. Burke in the head with the sneaker. The messy desk. The swinging on the door. The toilet paper. And now this—the shoe on the roof.” Harley has teamed once again with illustrator Gustavson (Lost and Found, 2012) to create a real-life world in which a likable kid must face the everyday terrors of childhood: enormous bullies, looming teachers and thick gym coaches with huge pointing fingers. Into this series opener, Harley magically weaves the simple lesson that people, even teachers, can surprise you.
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the sarcasm of Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-56145-732-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
