book reviews

author chat: kelly starling lyons on tea cakes for tosh

~ jama ~ 20 Comments

tea cakes cover

They’re light and buttery, a little chewy, just a touch of brown around the edges. The fragrance of vanilla and cinnamon wafts through the kitchen as they gently puff up in the oven.

Some describe it as a soft, old-fashioned sugar cookie; some say they are neither cookie nor cake, but most agree that Southern tea cakes are all about childhood, family, and a big ole batch of feel-good memories. If a bite of Southern cuisine could hug you, the tea cake would be it.

I would be lying if I didn’t confess that Tea Cakes for Tosh (Putnam, 2012) had me at the title along with the picture of the grandmother and grandson on the cover. Certainly their special bond is the heartbeat of this tender, multi-layered intergenerational tale so lovingly told by Kelly Starling Lyons and masterfully illustrated by Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner E.B. Lewis.

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tasting the abc’s of fruits and vegetables and beyond by steve charney and david goldbeck

~ jama ~ 25 Comments

#46 in on ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

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Food + ABCs together in one book — what could be better?

Steve Charney and David Goldbeck serve up a fun and delectable two course meal sure to satisfy a variety of appetites in The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond (Ceres Press, 2007). This alphabet book with extended activities contains just the right ingredients to feed hungry minds and hopefully get kids excited about incorporating more fruits and veggies in their diet.

abcs food

In Part One, (the first “course”), Charney presents a chewy, crunchy, giggle-inducing platter of rhyming alphabet poems (E is for Eggplant, K is for Kiwi, W is for Watermelon). Each page turn showcases one letter/one fruit/one veggie with a photo set against a bold-colored background on one side, and the illustrated poem on the other.

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The focus is on familiar, kid-friendly produce as well as the more elusive Jicama, Quince, Ugli®, and Xemenia (a wild yellow plum from Africa). Food-related extras like Vanilla, Herbs, Farmer, and Organic round out the menu.  Littlest munchkins will enjoy the lively, comical poems and poring over the cartoony illustrations, perhaps not realizing they are consuming lots of ‘good-for-you’ facts at the same time.

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a taste of chris caldicott’s world food alphabet

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

#46 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

Fancy some Moroccan dates, farm fresh eggs from France, bananas from the Caribbean?  How about a stroll through the street markets of Burma, Guatemala and England? Now, I know that if you chanced upon a particular street vendor in Thailand, you’d surely insist on a bowl of yummy noodles. Sitting around a low table on your plastic stool, you’d likely find the happy conversation every bit as satisfying as the food.

Acclaimed UK food and travel writer and photo journalist Chris Caldicott serves up an international feast for the senses in his photographic alphabet of world food. He takes us to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, giving us a fascinating glimpse of how food is grown, transported, sold, cooked, eaten and shared. Far more than a standard “A is for Apple” compendium, each photograph in World Food Alphabet (Frances Lincoln, 2012) tells a story with an interesting cultural and geographical context, showing people interacting with particular foods in their everyday lives.

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chatting about the moogees with author/illustrator leslie mcguirk

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

The-Moogees-Move-House

Don’t move a muscle. Word on the street is that the Moogees are on the move!

If you’re really lucky, they just might move in right next door to you. In the meantime, you can read all about them in this fun and whimsical new picture book, The Moogees Move House, written and illustrated by the endlessly creative, and yes, quirky, Leslie McGuirk.

It’s always a treat to see just what Leslie will do next. You may remember the last time she was here to chat about her amazing alphabet book, If Rocks Could Sing (Tricycle Press, 2011), or the time before that, when she and co-author Alex von Bidder shared tasty tidbits about Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant (Candlewick Press, 2009). Doggone delish!

In The Moogees Move House, a family of fanciful creatures searches for a new home. The perky, picky, peculiar-looking Moogees want something round, on the ground, “with class and a nice wide yard and plenty of grass.” With the help of Moogee realtor Mr. Ruru, they see and then reject homes that are too blue, too expensive, and too cheesy (if it were me, I’d move in immediately with a lifetime stash of crackers). Will they ever find just the right house? And what do the three baby Moogees know all along, as they scream, waa waa moogee doogee wee wee low lum!?

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soup of the day: happy birthday, bunny! by liz garton scanlon and stephanie graegin

~ jama ~ 39 Comments

bunny nine

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!

It’s time to put on your party clothes and fancy shoes: for our first Soup of the Day for 2013, we’re celebrating a birthday book’s book birthday! Got that?

And I’m doubly, even triple-y excited because it was written by one of my favorite author/poets, Liz Garton Scanlon, and beautifully illustrated by Brooklyn-based artist Stephanie Graegin, who did such a brilliant job that it’s hard to believe it’s her very first picture book. You know how much I love featuring “first books.” 🙂 I totally agree with Kirkus, who called Stephanie “an up-and-coming artist to watch” in their *starred review*. Hooray!

But more about Happy Birthday, Bunny! (Beach Lane Books, 2013), right after we suit up for the festivities.

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