January 2020 Prime Picks
The
Culinary Corner
America's Test Kitchen
www.americastestkitchen.com
Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities (978194526974, $27.99) reflects the latest trend in fast-casual restaurants: putting together trendy, original one-bowl meals for patrons looking for fast, healthy, hearty dishes.
This book organizes chapters by base ingredients, making it easy for home cooks to locate a recipe based on what's in the pantry.
There are boxed details for customizing each bowl recipe with suggestions for either enhancing or simplifying the fare, a 'basics' section that promotes make-ahead components, and a focus on healthy creations that include calorie counts and complete nutritional details.
Add color photos and the promise that each recipe has been thoroughly tested by America's Test Kitchen staff to make it virtually foolproof and you have a collection that is especially recommended for busy cooks who want one-dish, healthy solutions for home cooking.
Mediterranean Instant Pot: Easy, Inspired Meals for Eating Well (9781948703062, $24.99) comes with a caveat: it requires purchase of the Instant Pot, which is the cornerstone of each and every dish featured here.
Owners of this pot will find the emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, and fish makes the most of this new kitchen appliance, showing how to shorten the work of cooking dried legumes and veggies and how to adapt Mediterranean recipes for the quick-cooking pot's unique features.
All dishes are central to the Mediterranean Diet, are accompanied by nutritional notes, and are presented for one-pot meals that simplify preparation without sacrificing flavor.
Bright color photos on every facing page and the foolproof testing of America's Test Kitchen make such dishes as Swordfish with Peppers and Potatoes or a No-Stir Polenta with Arugula, Figs, and Blue Cheese especially accessible (and any cook who has struggled with polenta consistency knows how demanding the stirring part of its preparation can be).
The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook: 500 Vibrant, Kitchen-Tested Recipes for Living and Eating Well Every Day (9781940352640, $32.99) achieved bestseller status in 2016, and deserves ongoing mention as a classic coverage of the Mediterranean Diet that should be in every cook's library.
This cookbook is also backed by the testers of America's Test Kitchen and excels in providing variations on themes. Thus, a Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives appears alongside a variation of Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Toasted Garlic and Parmesan.
Recipes receive label highlights for 'fast' and 'vegetarian', while tips on purchasing, storing, and using fresh ingredients educate all cooks on how to best utilize and maintain the freshest fare.
The 'Why This Recipe Works' notes introducing each dish lends the greatest value to this volume, explaining each recipe's testing process and the efforts that made a good recipe become a great one.
Best of Bridge Comfort Food
Emily Richards
Robert
Rose
9780778806325
$29.95
www.robertrose.ca
Best of Bridge Comfort Food: Recipes for Family and Friends collects recipes for fast, nostalgic comfort fare from the members of a women's group, adding international touches to expand the concept of comfort food to incorporate a melting pot feel.
Readers thus receive dishes that lend to home cooking and entertainment gatherings alike. The original 1975 production came from a group of friends who decided to create a cookbook based on recipes they would share. The Best of Bridge became a successful business and culinary brand throughout Canada.
New members of the group signed on as original members retired, and this latest book thus reflects a new generation's picks, which range from Eggplant Parmesan and Chicken Adobo to Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings and Fried Green Tomatoes.
The multicultural influences, a new generation's vision of what constitutes comfort food, and recipes that lend to sharing creates a collection which is appealing and easy, presented in a hardcover with lay-flat spiral binding to make for simple filing on the shelf and practical kitchen use.
Lands of the Curry Leaf
Peter Kuruvita
Murdoch
Books
9781743365120
$36.99
www.murdochbooks.com.au
Lands of the Curry Leaf: A Vegetarian Food Journey from Sri Lanka to Nepal comes from a chef and TV presenter who journeys not just through India and Nepal (lands well known for curry), but Afghanistan and neighboring countries.
As he embarks on a culinary, cultural, and social exploration and comparison of these nations and their foods, readers will find a wealth of recipes that include dishes not ordinarily easily found in cookbooks about these regions, such as a Black-eyed Pea Curry, Smoked Yogurt, a spice-infused Pomegranate Rice, or a Pakistani Plum & Almond Chutney.
Even seasoned cooks well familiar with these regions will find many intriguingly different dishes in this vibrant cookbook, which comes packed with lovely color photos throughout.
Pastry Love
Joanne Chang
Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt
9780544836488
$40.00
www.hmhbooks.com
Pastry Love: A Baker's Journal of Favorite Recipes covers master techniques for superior pastry-making and focuses on making them accessible not just to aspiring master bakers, but home cooks seeking superior results.
Recipes for Ricotta-Cherry Scones, Pecan Sandies, and a unique Japanese Cotton Cheesecake that is feather-light and unique provide cooks with intriguing pastries that are a cut above the ordinary, relatively easy to reproduce at home, and filled with flavor.
Many are eye-catching, as well, as in a Passion Fruit Crepe Cake which uses layers of crepes stacked with passion fruit to create a stunning dessert requiring many steps, but which rewards this effort with a unique result.
Recipes which require extra time, such as the aforementioned cake, are noted in the introduction to each recipe, which holds special notes (in this case, the recipe needs to be started 2 days in advance), but others require no advance preparation or special skills and will prove easy for average home cooks to duplicate.
The alluring color photos throughout, including step-by-step directions, craft an outstanding production that offers something new to home dessert cooks with a lively survey of pastry-making magic.
Plant Power
Annie Bell
Kyle
Books
9780857836120
$24.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
Plant Power: Protein-Rich Recipes for Vegetarians and Vegans teaches health-conscious cooks how to understand and use plant proteins from unrefined whole foods, exploring which foods contain protein and how to include them in a diet.
Recipes accompanied by appealing full-page color photos include dishes such as Pea and Mint Soup or a Shepard's Pie which is a "dead-ringer' for the traditional creation (albeit made with a mushroom and lentil base instead of the usual lamb, its crispy topping made from celaric instead of potato).
Annie Bell's focus on not just plant-based protein but dishes that are appealing and flavorful compiles a rich survey of possibilities that will appeal beyond the usual audience of vegetarians and vegans to reach mixed households interested in healthy fare with flavors everyone can enjoy.
Skinny Louisiana...in the Slow Cooker
Shelly Marie
Redmond, MS, RD, LDN, Culinary Dietitian
Pelican Publishing
Company
9781455624768
$26.95
www.pelicanpub.com
Skinny Louisiana...in the Slow Cooker provides a companion volume to the author's first book Skinny Louisiana...in the Kitchen and represents a pairing of high-fiber, lower-sugar, and low-carb recipes with the convenience of the slow cooker, all embellished with classic Louisiana culinary traditions.
Diabetics and those on diets will find much to like about this Louisiana-based book, from its translations of Red Bean Chili (made healthier with lean ground turkey and sweet potatoes) to a Glamorous Glazed Ham made with only three ingredients: boneless ham, a Louisiana-based natural sweetner Swerve, and diet orange juice.
From Barbecued Pulled Pork Wraps to an 8-net-carb Lasagna Soup that contains all the flavors of calorie-laden lasagna without the detriments, Skinny Louisiana...in the Slow Cooker is a flavor-packed Louisiana cookbook that can't be beat.
Comics and Graphic Novels
Titan
www.titan-comics.com
Cynthia Von Buhler's The Illumanati Ball (9781787732216, $29.99) is based on the NYC production hit show, and provides graphic novel fans with full color detail as it tells of a clandestine ball held in a secret location with a dangerous theme that immerses the five candidates who attend.
Gorgeous art on every page brings the ball, its mysteries, and its threat to life, creating a visual story that is dramatic, engrossing, and satisfyingly unpredictable.
Readers will find The Illumanati Ball an inviting production that excels in graphic sexual and ethical conundrums with a story of a dangerous vision indeed.
Mature readers with an interest in adventure and mystery will appreciate the artistic black and white panels and graphic novel prowess of Andreas in Cromwell Stone (9781785868887, $29.99).
Stone's investigation into a series of strange deaths leads to the discovery of a mysterious missing artifact. As Cromwell's fellow boat passengers die off, he finds himself facing an impossible timeline for resolution and an equally unbelievable horror.
Andreas often eschews verbiage for visual emphasis. This strategy works exceptionally well in this graphic horror novel, which captures and embellishes its action using a minimum of verbiage.
Graphic novel readers who want a dark, somber, thoroughly engrossing horror story and an equally puzzling investigator hero will relish Cromwell Stone.
TwoMorrows Publishing
www.twomorrows.com
TwoMorrows excels in books that document the history and artists of the comic world, and their two new presentations should be considered mainstays of any authoritative comic history library.
The expanded second edition of John Morrow's Kirby & Lee: Stuf' Said! (9781605490946, $26.95) is well worth the investment even for collections that have the prior edition.
It includes sixteen new pages of "Stuf' Said" by Marvel creators, was completed just days before Stan Lee's recent demise, and considers the evolution of the comic world from fanzines and magazines to television with a focus on the relationship of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, using their own words.
Color panels, covers, and considerations of turning points both in their careers and in the comic industry as a whole makes for an engrossing presentation.
Roger Hill's Mac Raboy: Master of the Comics (9781605490908, $39.95) provides a complete biography of the artist's life and creations, including interviews with friends, assistants, and his own son.
These compliment color panels from his works, color covers from his comics, and discussions of the artist's evolution from his freelance art and status as one of Fawcett's highest paid artists to Mac's special projects, such as the Flash Gordon strip.
Anyone interested in comic history will find essential this thorough probe of a reclusive personality whose art changed the industry.
The Arts
Leonardo by Leonardo
Martin Kemp
Callaway Arts &
Entertainment
9780935112825
$150.00
www.callaway.com
Leonardo by Leonardo is more than a compelling oversized collection of Leonardo's works from the exhibition at the Louvre. It represents a landmark achievement in art scholarship on Leonardo's quincentenary anniversary and comes from an Oxford professor who surveys the artist's works and their lasting impact on the art world.
Hundreds of images document almost thirty existing paintings and the sketches and drawings that represent their origins. These are accompanied by both Professor Kemp's analysis and written insights about the works by Leonardo and his contemporary artists.
Digital technology has been applied to the new oversized photo representations in this collection. These enhance the appearance, detail, and value of the work, reproducing Leonardo's images using the latest digital advancements and adding special archival paper, beautiful binding, and extra-close printing resolution to bring his works to life.
Discussions of Leonardo's important artistic projects and commissions, some of the radical ways his works recast traditional images (as in his portrayal of The Last Supper), and his own reflections about the process create an outstanding body of art history scholarship that should be in any art collection, especially those interested in Leonardo's words and works.
Stage Set: 50 Years of Style
Geoffrey Bradfield with Jorge
S. Arango
G Arts
9780998747446
$85.00
www.gartsbooks.com
Stage Set: 50 Years of Style is as lavish a presentation as the designs of its author Geoffrey Bradfield, presenting his autobiography in an oversized presentation piece suitable for study or coffee table display alike.
Bradfield uses his life to reflect on transitions in the design and style industry as a whole, reviewing his various stages as a designer and featuring his own homes, in different parts of the world, as examples of these changes.
The book also is filled with personal images of Bradfield as he lives his life, reinforcing the book's strong autobiographical approach. This follows the designs and artistic growth he experienced as he traveled the world and worked on a wide variety of projects.
The compelling visual attraction of Stage Set and its wider-ranging discussions and examples of design over a fifty-year involvement in the industry makes this book a 'must' for any arts collections strong in design history in general and Geoffrey Bradfield's works in particular.
Through Positive Eyes
Gideon Mendel & David Gere,
Editors
Aperture
9781597114769
$29.95
www.aperture.org
Through Positive Eyes features collaborative photo storytelling projects by some 130 people around the world who live with HIV and AIDS, all of whom participated in workshops led by photographer Gideon Mendel and Health Center director David Gere.
The idea was to intersect social issues and health concerns with artistic embellishment and autobiography. The project participants use words and color photos to explore their experiences and the stigma of HIV and AIDS, creating a visual playbook of cultural experiences from Mumbai, the U.S., Rio de Janeiro, Port-au-Prince, Bangkok, and other locales around the world.
The social inspection, psychological impact, and artistic renditions of these contributors create a visual display that holds impact and enlightenment on many different levels, making Through Positive Eyes a powerful recommendation for arts and social issues holdings alike.
Sizzling Social Issues
Bloomsbury Publishing
www.bloomsbury.com
Mary Robinson's Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future (9781635575927, $16.00) comes from the former President of Ireland and UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and offers her personal views on what it would take to win the battle for climate justice.
These views identify a surprising force in the world which could make a difference and which stems from grassroots activism efforts and ordinary people.
Robinson met with these people in an effort to learn about individual campaigns that hold potential to make a real difference in policymaker and political circles. Climate Justice shares their stories and refutes the notion that an ordinary person can't do much to change the course of the world. It offers a much-needed message of hope and encourages activism.
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy (9781635573534, $16.00) is also a powerful survey recommended for any social issues reader, and considers modern womanhood, empowerment, and how women can confront the social boundaries that limit them and create disparities in income and opportunities.
The works of James Baldwin, Emily Dickson, and others are quoted in the course of a story about new lives, emerging voices, new methods of assessment and assigning happiness to efforts, and new opportunities.
At first glance, a reader might wonder at the need for yet another book on the subject with Johann Hari's Lost Connections: Why You're Depressed and How to Find Hope (9781632868312, $18.00), but in fact this is more than another self-help or health title, and represents depression as symptomatic of social ills as much as individual experience.
This is certain to create controversial discussions in circles that have long been told that depression is a mental condition of the individual, not a social issue. But Lost Connections makes a convincing case for charting the progression of depression and anxiety across the Western world and follows Hari's own forty-thousand-mile journey around the world interviewing leading experts about the causes of depression and its real solution.
No collection strong in social issues and social health should be without this intriguingly different perspective on the root causes of depression which manifest in individuals and throughout society as a whole.
Moving Forward
Karine Jean-Pierre
Hanover Square
Press
9781335917836
$26.99
www.HanoverSqPress.com
Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of Africa is all about working against barriers to change by becoming involved in progressive causes, and provides readers with a step-by-step road map to such an achievement.
Karine Jean-Pierre is a former Obama White House staffer and political analyst, is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, and is an open gay woman of color. She wasn't born into political awareness, but evolved into this path of activism in graduate school.
Her memoir is as much a call to action and a demonstration of how to stand up and make a difference as it is a survey of her life and its influences.
Its lively tone and encouraging callouts make it a special recommendation for young adults and new adults interested in how social activism blossoms through grassroots efforts.
Science, Nature & Technology
Firefly
www.fireflybooks.com
Govert Schilling's Galaxies: Birth and Destiny of Our Universe (9780228102113, $49.95) pairs the latest telescope images with modern science as it presents findings from some 30 of the world's largest ground-based telescopes.
Gorgeous double-page spreads of galaxies accompany discussions of their dimensions, puzzles, groupings, sometimes-bizarre shapes, and why humans still don't know the true nature of some galaxies.
The combination of full color images and new scientific discoveries makes Galaxies: Birth and Destiny of Our Universe a particularly suitable replacement for aging astronomy titles reposing in science and general interest library collections.
Chris Earley's Feed the Birds: Attract and Identify 196 Common North American Birds (9780228102014, $24.95) joins other bird watching books, narrowing its focus to birds which are typically attracted to backyard feeders.
The idea is to observe and understand bird behaviors through close-up examination. From building your own feeders and understanding different kinds of bird seed to creating nesting boxes and handling squirrels and other detriments to bird feeders and feeding, Feed the Birds will delight any North American resident who seeks close-up bird opportunities for photography, study, and appreciation.
Brenda Dziedzic's Raising Butterflies in the Garden (9780228102250, $24.95) proposes strengthening butterfly populations by creating a backyard environment where they can thrive throughout their lifespans.
It focuses on some 40 North American butterfly and moth species, providing range maps, photographs that capture their life cycles, and insights into what plants and habitats are utilized by different species.
Readers looking to create compatible environments for specific butterfly populations will find Raising Butterflies in the Garden a treasure trove of specifics packed with maps, close-up color photos, and how-to advice.
Catherine Whitlock and Nicola Temple's Meet Your Hormones (9780228102205, $24.95) is recommended reading for high school to adult readers, and covers the basics of physiology and lifestyle insights in a companion guide to Meet Your Bacteria.
A lively combination of science and lifestyle insights make for a primer that moves through childhood to adult hormonal changes, applying science to different stages of life and clarifying each process.
From adults seeking clear refresher courses to students looking for easy introductions to the topic, Meet Your Hormones pairs excellent visual reinforcement and information with life-applied science that lay readers, even those with little science or physiology background, can easily understand.
I Love Happy Cats
Anneleen Bru
Schiffer
Publishing
9780764357879
$24.99
www.schifferbooks.com
Readers might expect that I Love Happy Cats will be another picture book celebration of felines, but there's an underlying purpose to this story clarified in its subtitle, 'Guide for a Happy Cat'.
Anneleen Bru is a behavioral therapist specializing in domestic cats. She launched Felinova in 2008, offering consultations and lectures about cat behavior. Her background lends to a fine book that challenges many common assumptions about the temperaments of domestic and wild cats alike.
Tips and tricks for handling different cats are imparted during a journey that considers their history, psychology, instincts, and human ways of dealing with cat behavior from scratching furniture to hunting.
Cat owners and anyone fascinated by felines will appreciate this mix of science insights and practical cat management tips.
Scatterbrain
Henning Beck
Greystone
Books
9781771644013
$27.95
www.greystonebooks.com
Scatterbrain: How the Mind's Mistakes Make Humans Creative, Innovative, and Successful comes from a neuroscientist who argues that brain snafus and memory mishaps illustrate the difference between computers and artificial intelligence and human synapses and processes. These differences are to be celebrated.
Is being scatterbrained a disadvantage? Are flaws something to be corrected, or starting points for evoking better processes and creativity?
As Henning Beck makes the case for brain growth and achievements, readers will appreciate his wealth of stories, analogies, fun insights, and keys to understanding human distraction, misperceptions and perceptions of time, and more. In the end, the reader may come to associate being scatterbrained with being more effective and, ultimately, more human.
Reviewer's Choice
The Golden Thread
Kassia St. Clair
Liveright
Publishing
9781631494802
$23.95
www.wwnorton.com
The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History is a textile history that will appeal to many different audiences, from arts and needlework readers to history students interested in artistic movements fueled by technological advancements that moved around the world.
This history of cloth requires no prior familiarity with fabric in order to prove accessible and intriguing. The Golden Thread examines the construction of many types of cloth and their uses around the world, from high-tech spacesuits to Egyptian mummy wrappings.
This survey of indulgent finery, factory workers involved in the mass production of fabric and materials, conflicting histories and narratives about spider silk's properties and future, and the evolution of wool, cotton, and other fabric is a thoroughly engrossing, lively coverage that belongs in arts and history collections alike.
Now Accepting Roses
Amanda
Stanton
BenBella
9781948836395
$24.95
www.benbellabooks.com
Now Accepting Roses: Finding Myself While Searching for The One and Other Lessons I learned from the Bachelor is a special recommendation for fans of the show The Bachelor who are interested in learning about actress Amanda Stanton's rise to fame, and blends a memoir with a guide to finding love.
By combining the story of her life with insights into relationships, dating, and 'rules' for navigating the rocky waters of the heart, Now Accepting Roses appeals to a much wider audience than prior Stanton fans alone.
Now Accepting Roses pairs her life story and television experiences with her personal quest. Readers not only get to know her better, but will enjoy the engrossing story of a single, full-time mother who hadn’t been on a date for over three years, and who needed to learn some lessons herself.
Travel
Best in Travel 2020
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet
Publishers
9781788683005
$17.99
www.lonelyplanet.com
Best in Travel 2020 represents a synthesis of the Lonely Planet staff and community as the publisher culls through the best of the best to provide a 2020 guide to destinations and experiences all serious travelers should know about.
From Top 10 countries around the world and why these nations earned that status to Top 10 cities, regions, and best value vacation destinations, Best in Travel 2020 considers the basics of adventure traveling with an eye to profiling the kinds of experiences that are truly standouts, which may be duplicated by other travelers who choose this book as their guide.
Sample itineraries, color photos and maps, notes on best time to visit, and local geography and history create a winning book highly recommended for any destination traveler and anyone who dares to dream of superior experiences around the world.
Mud and Stars
Sara
Wheeler
Pantheon
9781524748012
$27.95
www.pantheonbooks.com
Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age is a literary travel survey of Russia like few others, using the major writers of the Golden Age as guides to rural areas of the country.
Sara Wheeler avoided major cities and picked travel destinations associated with Russia's literary greats. She used local guides, stayed with residents in modest homestays, ate locally, and writes of everyday Russian lives with a rich observational style that exposes a side of Russia most travel writers miss.
The result is a vivid series of impressions and literary references that will especially delight readers already familiar with some of Russia's greatest writers. This audience will find the settings and connections to the nation come to life in this revealing, engrossing, freewheeling journey through Russia's peoples and countryside.
A Savage Dreamland: Journeys in Burma
David
Eimer
Bloomsbury
9781408883877
$34.00
www.bloomsbury.com
A Savage Dreamland: Journeys in Burma comes from a former Asia correspondent and one of the first outsiders to travel through the notoriously isolated Burma (now Myanmar, named by its military government). David Eimer captures the changes Burma has undergone since he began visiting that nation in 2010, then moved there in 2015.
His personal familiarity with the nation's social and political changes and challenges creates an observation of the nation which goes beyond accounts by reporters who visit, observe briefly, and then leave.
His is a long-range view of Burma's influences, changes, and issues, surveying social makeup, changing belief systems, monks, Muslims, and other religious entities, and how Burma has evolved into its modern incarnation.
His observations incorporate the experiences and words of the people, from former political exiles to radical monks, refugees, and ethnic minorities. It creates an absorbing story that requires no prior Western perspective or familiarity with Burma in order to prove absorbing and revealing.
Young Adult/Children
Candlewick Press
www.candlewickpress.com
Three picture book winners provide excellent-quality artistic stories that will delight librarians and parents seeking something different.
Bob Graham's The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story (9781536211122, $16.99) tells of tooth fairy sisters April and Esme, who are ready to enjoy a night at their grandparents' teapot house when they parents are called away on a molar pickup mission.
When another job arrives, however, the two sisters decide to step up and take on the tooth fairy tradition.
Readers of April and Esme, Tooth Fairies, as well as newcomers to the two, will find this a delightfully whimsical story of magic and tooth dilemmas. Good reading skills or parental assistance are required.
Terry Milne's Anxious Charlie to the Rescue (9781536209167, $16.99) tells of a dog that follows the same routine daily. If there's any deviation to his schedule, worry sets in.
When an emergency leads him to abandon his well-established routine, he begins to fret that something bad is certain to happen.
Charlie's obsession with control and managing change will resonate in many a young reader and creates a story with an important message about flexibility and friendship.
Lucy Rowland's The Knight Who Said "No!" (9781536208139, $16.99) is illustrated by Kate Hindley, who provides a set of intriguing and hilarious drawings to enhance the dilemma of a knight who begins to say 'no' on a regular basis, to everything.
He's always been the only polite child in his village, but when he tries out his new world on a night dragon, he learns something new about the power of 'no' and 'yes'.
A warm tale emerges about friendship, rebellion, and lessons learned by accepting new possibilities.
Disney Hyperion
www.disneybooks.com
These new books for young readers each offer a story and compelling, fun approach that discriminating parents and librarians will find refreshingly different and worthy of acquisition.
Mo Willems produces Volume 2 of An Elephant & Piggie Biggie-Biggie! (9781368045704, $16.99), which packs five Elephant and Piggie pal adventures under one cover. Readers who have no prior familiarity with these zany friends (or who have some of the books but not the series) will welcome this very simple reader which features two-color drawings of best friends who face dilemmas together.
Kids learn some basic math, from counting book pages to the problem of a best friend's broken trunk from weight-lifting antics.
The tales are very simple, the drawings oversized and fun, and children with basic reading skills and their read-aloud parents will find this a whimsical set of adventures.
Tara Lazar's The Upper Case: Trouble in Capital City (9781368027656, $17.99) receives fun drawings by Ross MacDonald, who presents a puzzling case that Private I must crack when Question Mark storms into his office to report all the uppercase letters are M-I-S-S-I-N-G.
But, they can't be truly gone. This is Capital City, after all.
A fun story of letters gone awry teaches the basics of upper and lowercase letters within the structure of an investigative puzzler.
Lynn Plourde's If I Could Give You Christmas (9781368002677, $17.99) arrived too late for holiday feature, but deserves to be on the shelves of any seasonal picture book collection for years to come.
Jennifer L. Meyer's gorgeous, warm drawings capture the warmth and togetherness of the holiday season as animals share affection, love, games, and seasonal delights with one another.
The bundled-up birds and other animals are beautifully depicted, complimenting a message of togetherness and holiday rituals.
Tami Lewis Brown & Debbie Loren Dunn's Instructions Not Included: How a Team of Women Coded the Future (9781368011051, $17.99) is illustrated by Chelsea Beck, who provides fun drawings to accompany the story of how three women (Betty Snyder, Jean Jennings, and Kay McNulty) used mathematics and basic engineering savvy to work with the (then) largest computer in the world during World War II.
ENIAC came with no guidelines or rules, but a team effort led to new inventions, calculations, and success fostered by a rare team of women who achieved the impossible.
Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay's Blue Spot (9781368024594, $16.99) tells of cat Daisy, who sports a blue spot on her new white dress after an art class mishap. But that isn't the complete story of the blue spot.
Daisy's propensity for utilizing blue materials for various purposes leads to all kinds of scenarios that could have created the blue stain.
As a coloring mishap expands to include blueberry rain and other impossible blue scenarios, Daisy's story gets wilder and wilder.
Parents and kids will find this easy reader hilarious.
Good Night, Little Blue Truck
Alice Schertle and Jill
McElmurry
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9781328852137
$17.99
www.hmhbooks.com
Good Night, Little Blue Truck tells of a little blue truck and his good friend Toad, who head home for cover when a storm threatens.
They aren't the only ones who seek shelter during a storm, though, and soon Cow, Goose, and other farm animals join them.
Is there room for everyone?
A fun story of friendship, storms, and shelter evolves.
Simon and Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
These two picture books will appeal to young audiences and offer intriguing stories with excellent-quality illustrations.
Mem Fox works with illustrator Jane Dyer to create Roly Poly (9781481445566, $17.99), a polar bear story that tells of an only child who enjoys everything around him until baby Monty enters his life.
He never asked for a little brother, and doesn't know or accept the concept of sharing.
Needle felt art enhances a warm story powered by dolls and the idea of family and togetherness.
Parker Curry and Jessica Curry's Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment (9781534451865, $17.99) benefits from fine drawings by Brittany Jackson as it tells of a youngster who encounters Michelle Obama's portrait at the National Portrait Gallery and sees in that picture the strength and dynamic personality of a strong leader.
When someone snapped a photo of author Parker's fascination, her image went viral.
This provides the background story of her involvement not just with art and a woman's image, but her own possibilities for influencing a different world.
The Wolf Will Not Come
Myriam Ouyessad and Ronan
Badel
Schiffer Kids
9780764347800
$16.99
www.schifferbooks.com
The Wolf Will Not Come represents an inviting exploration of childhood nighttime terrors as it considers a frightened young rabbit who has nightmares of a wolf coming when he's asleep.
At first his mother claims there are no wolves, then admits that only a few still exist, then maintains that wolves actually hide in the mountains far from them.
As the astute little bunny keeps catching his mother fibbing, he begins questioning both her wisdom and his safety.
Kids with good reading skills will relish this fun story of exactly why the wolf will not come to eat a frightened little rabbit.