book buzzin’

August 22, 2013August 21, 2013 ~ jama ~ 22 Comments

Yes, we’re mostly about food-related books here at Alphabet Soup, but that doesn’t mean we don’t ooh and ahh over other titles — especially those written and/or illustrated by folks we know and love. Here are some recent and upcoming releases we just had to tell you about:

THE NUTS AND BOLTS GUIDE TO WRITING PICTURE BOOKS by Linda Ashman. “Have an idea for a picture book? Already working on one? This 150-page handbook offers instruction, advice, exercises, resources, encouragement and more to turn your idea or work-in-progress into a ready-to-submit manuscript. It also includes interviews with leading children’s book editors and industry professionals who provide insights and advice from their side of the desk.”

This one’s a beauty — nine chapters worth of clearly presented, insightful, practical writing advice drawn from Linda’s many years as an author, poet, writing teacher, critiquer, reading advocate, and lover of children’s literature. It’s like having a friendly writing coach by your side as you try to whip your manuscripts into shape. I especially like her chapters about writing humor and experimenting with form. The Guide is currently available for sale as a PDF via Linda’s website, and will be available soon in an ePub version for e-readers.

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MY BLUE IS HAPPY by Jessica Young and Catia Chien (Candlewick, 2013). We always go a little crazy over debut picture books, so a big Huzzah to Jessica! Officially released on August 6th, this book challenges commonly held assumptions about colors and celebrates individual perspective. Is red always angry? Is pink pretty or annoying? Colors are closely associated with emotion, and it’s fascinating to explore the different ways we experience them. Is your orange “fun like a bouncing basketball” — or “serious like a warning sign and a tiger on the prowl”? What a great primer for creative thinking! To learn more about chocolate-lovin’ art teacher/Nashville resident Jessica and her wonderful book, check out this most excellent interview.

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a colorful chat with cathryn falwell about rainbow stew

July 2, 2013September 2, 2017 ~ jama ~ 15 Comments

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Mmmmm, somebody’s making something yummy! It’s a special stew made with a rainbow of freshly picked garden vegetables — red tomatoes, purple eggplant, green peas and beans, rosy radishes, brown potatoes and yellow peppers. Care for a bowl?

It’s such a treat to welcome award winning author/illustrator Cathryn Falwell to Alphabet Soup today. She’s just published an uncommonly delicious new picture book called Rainbow Stew (Lee & Low, 2013), which contains all the ingredients I love most about good stories: food, family, and fun. 🙂

A very cool grandfather (who makes yummy pancakes for breakfast) makes the most of a rainy summer day by suggesting everyone go outside to “find some colors for my famous Rainbow Stew!” So he and his three grandchildren don their rain gear and go searching for ripe veggies under the drippy leaves. With treasures like radishes, carrots, cucumbers and cabbage, and time enough to “jump around like grasshoppers and buzz about like bees,” everyone has a muddy grand time.

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peeking into molly’s organic farm by carol l. malnor and trina l. hunner

July 1, 2013September 13, 2017 ~ jama ~ 18 Comments

Miao! Who’s that peeking through the cauliflower leaves?

Meet Molly, a homeless orange tabby who wanders into a small community farm one Spring day and instantly captures everyone’s hearts.

Based on a true story, Molly’s Organic Farm (Dawn Publications, 2012), introduces young readers to the seasonal workings of an organic farm through Molly’s eyes. Curious and mischievous, she explores this wondrous world of giant cornstalks and row upon row of leafy vegetables, watching, hunting, and playing among the busy birds, bugs and critters who live there, some beneficial to the plants, others harmful.

The basic principles of organic farming and the marvelous interplay of nature are seamlessly interwoven with Molly’s activities, all gorgeously brought to life with Trina Hunner’s stunning illustrations. We learn about composting, companion planting, crop rotation, beneficial bugs and animal helpers, the importance of buying locally and the wonderful sense of community that’s established among those who share an interest in growing and eating healthy foods in a way that is gentle on the environment.

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tasting first peas to the table by susan grigsby and nicole tadgell

June 24, 2013September 13, 2017 ~ jama ~ 30 Comments

Peas, please!

Surely they’re the most social of all vegetables — you rarely see or eat just one and they’re happiest out of their shells — canoodling in congenial groups, basking in their perfect orbed greenness, even more resplendent adorned with a buttery sheen.

Thomas Jefferson was certainly onto them. The English or Garden Pea is considered his favorite vegetable, judging by the sheer quantity of pea plantings and number of harvests at Monticello, as well as the amount of garden space regularly allotted to it.

*(Click for Mary Randolph’s Fresh Peas with Mint recipe)*

Every Spring, Jefferson and his neighbors had a “First Peas to the Table” contest, a race to see whose peas would be ready first. The winner would host a dinner party, proudly serving his peas to the other contestants. Apparently, Jefferson rarely won, but like his eager friends, fully appreciated the greater prize — honoring a beloved tradition where all could celebrate the joys of gardening and the power of the pea to bring people together.

Since I’ve always been interested in Jefferson’s gardening and gourmandizing, I was happy to see First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby and Nicole Tadgell (Albert Whitman, 2012), a lovely story where school children plant a kitchen garden like Jefferson’s and have a pea growing contest of their own.

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friday feast: are your tomatoes laughing?

June 14, 2013September 14, 2017 ~ jama ~ 35 Comments

Seriously, who could resist a poetry book called Laughing Tomatoes?

Well, I certainly couldn’t, but I shamefully admit I didn’t actually know about this fabuloso feast of pure delight until just a few months ago.

This Pura Belpré Honor Award-winning bilingual 20-poem collection by Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón and Maya Christina Gonzalez was first published by Children’s Book Press back in 1997. Where was I?!

Likely staring at grumpy, aloof tomatoes and not appreciating strawberries for the “sweet tender hearts” they are, living a bland life full of ho-hum edibles, certainly not hearing the warm morning sun calling to me through my window, and — *shakes head* — totally oblivious to dew, “the fresh taste of the night.”

But now, having read this glorious, jubilant celebration of Spring and its earthly delights, family, culture and community, my life is complete!