picture books

a delicious bite of Cookie Queen by Kathleen King, Lowey Bundy Sichol, and Ramona Kaulitzki

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

How do you like your chocolate chip cookies? Soft and chewy or thin and crispy? In all my years of cookie baking, I’ve strived for thin and crispy with only moderate success. Granted, all homemade chocolate chip cookies are good when they’re warm from the oven (hello, gooey melty chocolate and buttery crumb). The true test, however, is after they’ve cooled.

All I can say is thank goodness for Tate’s Bake Shop®️. We always have a bag or two or three of their Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies in the house. In fact, we prefer them over their original Chocolate Chip. Thin and buttery with just the right crunch, they taste homemade.

I first “discovered” them after googling “Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies” about ten years ago. Tate’s was the hands down favorite, or else was included in the top five on most lists. So we tried a bag and have never looked back.

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nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

1. Ho Ho Ho! Or maybe we should say Ruff Ruff? In any case, Happy December, the month of merry making, gift giving, egg nogging, and tree trimming.

These adorable canine friends were created by UK artist Louise Rawlings. Couldn’t resist the furry faces, cute poses, and happy feelings they generate. Love me some wintry whiskers!

Louise (b. 1969) currently lives and works in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, and graduated from De Montfort University in Leicester with a degree in illustration and surface decoration. She’s had a long and varied career as an illustrator, working in areas such as giftware, stationery, ceramics, fine art, and book illustration. Her artwork can be found in galleries across the UK, and she works for publishers worldwide, primarily selling greeting cards.

Though she paints in watercolor, her real love is working in a naïve mixed media style in her favorite medium, acrylic. She’s inspired by the views captured while on long walks with her two dogs in a nearby park and by domestic holiday spots, especially the British coastline.

Louise’s original paintings may be purchased via her Official Website and Etsy Shop. Greeting cards are available online at Dry Red Press, Calypso Cards, and the Blank Card Company. Keep up with her latest news at Facebook and Instagram.

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[one review] One Perfect Plan by Nancy Tupper Ling and Alina Chau

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

When I was eleven my parents gave me a Bible for Christmas. It had a white faux leather cover with “Holy Bible: Concordance” printed in gold on the front.

Although I was too young to fully comprehend its significance to the civilized world, I knew I held in my hands a precious, sacred book, one that contained marvelous stories of mankind and miracles, fish and forbidden fruit, Jesus’s birth and resurrection. I also noted that the Bible seemed to be a book people often quoted from but didn’t necessarily read cover to cover.

If only there had been a picture book like One Perfect Plan: The Bible’s Big Story in Tiny Poems by Nancy Tupper Ling and Alina Chau (WaterBrook, 2023) to help me figure out how to approach such an intimidating tome! I would have had a beautifully illustrated lyrical roadmap of sorts — an appealing introduction to some of the best stories told within the context of the Bible’s larger message.

In One Perfect Plan, Nancy Tupper Ling accomplishes the daunting task of distilling the essence of beloved Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments in luminous rhyming couplets, all beginning with the word “One.” “One garden” for the garden of Eden, “One drop” for the great flood, “One stone” for the story of David and Goliath, and so on. A scriptural reference follows each poem.

The book opens with the Creation story from Genesis I, setting a dramatic tone:

One word --
then light breaks into darkness;
the sky, the seas, and life -- how wondrous!
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a scrumptious treat from the Blueberries for Sal cookbook

~ jama ~ 16 Comments

“Little Bear and his mother went home down one side of Blueberry Hill, eating blueberries all the way, and full of food stored up for next winter.“ ~ Robert McCloskey

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!

Sounds like Little Sal is tossing a few blueberries into her tin pail — and when I say “a few,” I mean the ones she hasn’t yet eaten, which number very few indeed.

As we all know from reading Robert McCloskey’s classic picture book Blueberries for Sal, this adorable munchkin simply couldn’t get enough of those tender juicy orbs while out berry picking with her mom on Blueberry Hill.

Can’t say I blame her: when I visited the Southern Coast of Maine ten years ago, I was finally able to try wild Maine blueberries for the very first time. So good! The lowbush berries like Sal ate are smaller and sweeter than the highbush variety widely available in supermarkets around the country. If I had gone blueberry picking with Sal and her mom, there wouldn’t be any berries in my pail at all. 🙂

I was positively giddy when the Blueberries for Sal Cookbook: Sweet Recipes Inspired by the Beloved Children’s Classic (Clarkson Potter, 2023) was released in June. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing this adorable collection, which is basically a baker’s delight.

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[bouncy review] Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

Since I grew up with a large extended family, loud talky meals were par for the course. Along with lots of tasty food, my aunties served up a fair share of juicy gossip and heaps of hilarity whenever we got together.

My cousins and I knew the drill. If you were a baby or toddler, you could expect to be doted upon — hugged, held, kissed or tickled. An uncle might toss you up in the air, and if you weren’t careful, you could even get your cheeks pinched.

All part of happy family gatherings, where the youngest is usually the center of attention. And why not? Who doesn’t love a wriggly, giggly, drooly, pint-sized bundle of fun?

In Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón (Neal Porter Books, 2023), we’re invited to join a lively multiethnic blended family as they set the table, prepare the food, enjoy their meal, clean up the mess, and then collapse from exhaustion — all while playing with, feeding and entertaining the baby, as she’s passed from lap to lap.

Reich’s rollicking rhyming text pulls us right into the action from the get-go, filling us with excitement and anticipation as we sense Baby will be the star of the show.

Family dinner, set the table,
forks and spoons and napkins too.
Knives and plates and water glasses,
flowers, candles, bright and new.
Wait a minute, where's the baby?
Someone's playing peekaboo!

As the guests gather round and help with finishing touches, hungry Baby fusses a little. So begins her journey around the table, as she’s cuddled by different family members. An ebullient refrain underscores everyone’s uproarious delight:

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