July 2023 Prime Picks
The
Culinary Corner
Chetna's Indian
Feasts
Chetna Makan
Hamlyn/Octopus
Publishing
9780600637677 $32.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
Chetna's Indian Feasts: Everyday Meals & Easy Entertaining
comes from a participant in The Great British Bake Off and features
Indian-inspired dishes that are varied, appealing, and easy to reproduce at
home.
While other Indian cookbooks
hold some of these same attractions, what sets Chetna's Indian Feasts apart from others is a focus on fast dishes
that are not only easy to put together, but different from many of the classic
Indian fare to be found in competing cookbooks.
Full-page color
photos illustrate such dishes as Dal with Mango, Garlic Chilli Corn (suitable for
the barbecue), or Red Chilli Pulao with Chicken.
This take-off on
traditional Indian fare is highly recommended for enthusiasts of Indian food
seeking something satisfyingly different.
Flavor Kitchen
Crystelle Pereira
Kyle Books
9781914239793 $29.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
Flavor Kitchen: Vibrant Recipes With Creative Twists features
original creations not to be found in other cookbooks. Perhaps this is because
Crystelle Pereira's Portuguese-Goan roots and travels encouraged her to meld
new flavors. She developed these different combinations as she traveled the
world.
Full-page color
photos accompany this British Bake-Off cook's original dishes, such as Spicy
Korean-inspired Smashed Potatoes or Slow-Roasted Harissa Carrots.
From small plates and
dips to desserts and main dishes, Pereira's unique creations are powerfully
appealing and highly recommended for cooks seeking flavor combinations not to
be found elsewhere.
The Healthy Back
Kitchen
Griffin R. Baum, MD
America's Test
Kitchen
9781954210653 $29.99
www.americastestkitchen.com
The Healthy Back Kitchen: Move Easier, Cook Simpler is all about
mitigating the effects of back pain from common kitchen movements such as
bending, lifting, and preparing foods. Worst of all is the standing required in
cooking.
Dr. Griffin R. Baum,
a neurosurgeon in New York, is an avid cook who here offers new cooking methods
to protect the back and address the common motions of cooking that set off
pain.
He advocates a
simpler way of moving in the kitchen and includes over two hundred color photo-enhanced
recipes designed to avoid prolonged standing.
Tricks that make
cooking easier include taking breaks mid-cooking, prepping ahead, buying
already-trimmed veggies, and other simple routines for avoiding the usual
long-standing backache-causing kitchen routines, making The Healthy Back Kitchen highly recommended for health and cookbook
collections alike.
Reviewer's Choice
Cliffhanger!
Christopher Irving
TwoMorrows Publishing
9781605491196 $39.95
www.twomorrows.com
Cliffhanger! Cinematic Superheroes of the Serials: 1941-1952 is a
survey of early film superheroes and comic creators that should be in any media
history collection.
It focuses on early
characters, stuntmen and directors, comic book creators, and actors who
contributed to the notion of a superhero universe, juxtaposing events in the
two media histories to build a better understanding of the roots and origins of
superhero serial productions.
Packed with color
photos and in-depth analysis of famous superhero origins ("Batman was a pulp response to Superman's
science fiction roots, created by an ambitious young cartoonist and his
uncredited writing partner."), Cliffhanger!
is quite simply a 'must' for any film or comic history collection seeking a
definitive analyses and solid history, flavored with the vintage images of past
superhero incarnations.
Eight Bears
Gloria Dickie
W.W. Norton
9781324005087 $30.00
www.wwnorton.com
Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future is an insightful survey
of eight bear species and their history and conservation issues. It comes from
an environmental journalist and National Geographic explorer who followed
scientists studying these bears around the world, from China to South America.
From observations of
the wild/urban interface in the American West that have led to historic changes
in bear habits to the impact of human changes to their environment, Eight Bears is an important survey. It
goes beyond the usual natural history approach to blend in facets of
environmental change that are key to understanding the bears' past and future
struggles to remain on this planet.
Eight Bears should be in any natural history or environmental
issues collection as a classic story of world changes and their impact on all
life.
David Bowie:
Rainbowman 1967-1980
Jérôme
Soligny
Monoray/Octopus
Publishing
9781800960633
www.octopusbooksusa.com
The only prerequisite
for enjoying David Bowie: Rainbowman
1967-1980 is a prior interest in the musician's life and an ability to
absorb a meticulously-done biographical sketch which contains well over six
hundred pages of research and extensive interviews with those involved in
Bowie's life.
Fans will find this
book one of the most vibrant, revealing coverages of Bowie's life and art in
print, reviewing his music and influences with a dedicated hand to detail that
includes in-depth revelations by contemporaries such as Mick Ronson and other notable
musical artists.
The depth of examination
and insights contributes an authoritative understanding of Bowie's works that
is both wide-ranging and essential to any serious understanding of his artistry,
making David Bowie: Rainbowman 1967-1980 a
top recommendation for any collection looking for an exhaustive, revealing
coverage of his music and the milieu in which it was born.
Say It Out Loud
Vasavi Kumar
New World Library
9781608688265 $19.95
www.newworldlibrary.com
From using the spoken
voice to address underlying belief systems to accepting that talking out loud
to oneself creates a cathartic opportunity that writing alone can't match,
Vasavi Kumar reveals the triggers and forces that both repress and limit the
notion that speaking aloud is a productive process.
Her encouragement to
defy these life messages to tap into an unprecedented form of enlightenment and
growth through vocalizing exercises encourages readers to grow their own
intuitive process and strength in a different manner.
Libraries strong in
self-help, psychology, and new age studies will find Say It Out Loud a fine opportunity for transformation beyond the
usual admonition to use written words alone.
Young Adult/Children
Candlewick Press
www.candlewick.com
Candlewick Press's
latest picture books are strong recommendations for libraries seeking
attractive stories and superior illustrations.
Alan Lightman's Isabel and the Invisible World
(9781536223330, $18.99) comes from a physicist who introduces light waves in a
picture book about a little girl's wonder.
Ramona Kaulitzki adds
lovely, colorful embellishment to the tale of how little Isabel wants only one
thing for her birthday: a way to see unseeable things.
Her mother's gift
bestows new opportunities for appreciating science, nature, and the world in this
lovely celebration of light's invisible properties and wonders.
Jamie Michalak's Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop: A Tiny
Treasure Hunt (9781536223309, $17.99) sends the mouse investigator overseas
to Paris, where he's called upon to find a book of lost treasures hidden
somewhere in the city.
He has only crumbs
for clues, but Dakota faces many obstacles with a creative eye for
problem-solving as he edges closer to his goals.
Fun, compelling,
colorful drawings by Kelly Murphy accent Dakota's whimsical efforts. The mouse
finds more than he'd anticipated in a picture book replete with adventure and
action.
Chihiro Takeuchi's Whose Dinosaur Bones Are Those?
(9781536230697, $17.99) invites picture book readers to guess a dinosaur's
identity by looking at its bones.
Colors and visual
cues are provided to encourage kids to not only look at anatomical detail, but
better understand how bones reflect the appearance of the original creature.
A very simple format
and inviting discussion encourages parents and kids to take initial steps into
linking bones with history.
Chloe Savage's The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish
(9781536228519, $18.99) tells of Dr. Morley, whose quest to the northernmost tip
of the world in search of a legend comes to life in an adventure story certain
to attract a wide audience.
From Dr. Morley's
team efforts to the motivations they have for pursuing an impossible dream, the
story comes to life through vivid drawings and colorful 'in the moment'
descriptions.
David Melling's Ruffles and the New Green Thing
(9781536229820, $17.99) tells of a dog who loves exploring, but hates trying
new things ... especially new green things that appear in his dish as if by
magic.
It sometimes takes a
friend to lead the way into something different and possible. His friend Ralph
takes the lead to teach Ruffles that new green things in life aren't always to
be avoided.
Helena Ku Rhee's Sora's Seashells (9781536209938, $17.99)
receives lovely illustrations by Stella Lim with Ji-Hyuk Kim as it tells of a
little girl's seaside adventures with her grandmother, who visits her from
South Korea. Both of them like to look for beautiful shells, but Sora's halmoni
(grandmother) always leaves the best for someone else to find.
When school begins
and Sora is teased about her name, she discovers that Halmoni has left her a
final, unexpected gift to discover.
This warm story of
inclusiveness, family connections, loss, and discovery is highly recommended
for a wide audience of young readers and read-aloud listeners.
As Brave as a Lion by Erika Meza (9781536225082, $18.99) tells of a
young girl who gets her courage from her brave lion, which sticks with her and
helps her feel she can do anything.
One day, she
discovers that even a very brave lion has his limits. What can she do to
address his very big fear?
A fine story of
friendship, kindness, and courage evolves that offers many opportunities for
read-aloud parents to help kids tap into their own understanding and inner
strengths.
All are excellent
picture book stories that stand out from the crowd.
Food for the Future
Mia Wenjen
Barefoot Books
9781646868391
www.barefootbooks.com
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World features
lovely art by Robert Saw-Heng as it explores twelve ways people around the
world grow food in sustainable ways.
The key question ("Can
we feed the world without pollution?") is answered through profiles of vastly
different growing environments, from a rooftop garden that grows food for fans
at Fenway Park to a greenhouse pod deep in the ocean, and a vertical farm in
Singapore.
Light-hearted rhymes
outline and emphasize these futuristic farms, which hold opportunities for
supporting the environment and human endeavors alike.
Happy
Mies Van Hout
Pajama Press
9781772782875 $19.95
www.pajamapress.ca
If Happy sounds familiar, that's because
its appearance in 2012 was applauded as a lovely emotional learning tool for
picture book readers and adults looking to encourage both art and social
understanding in the very young.
Its appearance here
contains the same large-size expressive lettering, the lure of colorful fish
against ink-black backgrounds, and, most importantly, the single-letter
examples of emotions that range from anger and gladness to fear and feeling
perplexed.
Adults can use this
simple, lovely attraction as a read-aloud exploration of emotional connections
that will appeal to a wide contemporary audience of young learners.
'I Cannot Draw'
titles
Charise Mericle
Harper
Union Square Kids
$17.99 each
www.unionsquareandco.com
Two 'I Cannot Draw'
picture books by Charise Mericle Harper provide kids with fun reading and
inviting art creation insights that take very simple subjects and pictures and
turn them into creative, engrossing themes.
I Cannot Draw a Horse (9781454945949) uses a 'quick draw' method to
illustrate the basics of drawing. A shape becomes a cat which states that it
wants a horse. But, a horse is hard to draw. Much harder than a cat, a beaver,
or a bunny.
Sound effects invite
read-aloud parents to dramatize the tale as a series of drawings try to mitigate
the cat's ongoing desire for something the artist isn't capable of producing.
The underlying
message about trying new things ("Safe
is not fun," said the cat. "I want some fun.") supplements
an inviting tale.
I Cannot Draw a Bicycle (9781454945956, $17.99) presents the
quick-draw narrator in another dilemma with the demanding cat character of the
previous story.
Here, a bicycle must
be built for the cat and his new acquisition. Drawing a bicycle is not easy,
either, but the shape-oriented guide to drawing offers fun insights and lively
instructions that will lend to a better understanding of art, words, and
creative efforts.
Read-aloud parents
promoting art and discovery will find both books attractive and inspirational.
The Language of
Plants
Darya Neklemesheva
and Helena Haraštová
Abatros
97880067971 $15.95
www.albatrosbooks.com
The Language of Plants: Understanding How Plants Communicate is a
picture book discussion of plant possibilities. It focuses on recent scientific
findings about plant abilities that challenge traditional views of plants as
largely being dull.
Kids learn about the
parts of plants, their operations, how plants can actually call for help and
warn each other, along with many amazing facts about plants that reveals their
extraordinary abilities.
The result differs
from any other plant botany book, promising enlightening understanding not only
from picture book readers, but the adults who choose this book for its
extraordinary focus and bright illustrations of plant facts.
Simon & Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
These new picture
books provide young readers with excellent stories that are vivid and
attractive choices.
Aisha Saeed's The Together Tree (9781534462960,
$18.99) reaches ages 4-8 with a story of bullying and differences. Rumi is
quiet and new at school, but when Asher starts to bully him, other classmates
must make their own decisions whether to step up or join in.
Rumi's acknowledgment
of how different things are now leads to new realizations on all sides in a
story that receives engaging illustration by Caldecott Honor winner LeUyen
Pham.
Lisa Bentley's The Dreams We Made (9781665917650,
$18.99) will also reach ages 4-8 with its story of a little girl and her father
who build many things, including dreams, together.
One day, Daddy
doesn't come home from work, leaving his little girl all alone.
How can she keep
building on what they shared together?
A gentle, simple
story of a "perfect team" and its changes will help adults explain
death and loss to the very young.
Cynthia Rylant's Rain (9781442465091, $18.99) is
illustrated by Lisa Congdon and provides the gentle, nature-filled
observational story of the feel of a rainy day.
From what happens to birds and animals just before a storm to observations of the sky that prompt children, too, to "hurry home," this celebration of rain provides a fine story that is deceptively simple and appealing in its illustrations and focus on appreciating weather changes.