June 2022 Prime Picks
The
Culinary Corner
Bake
Paul Hollywood
Bloomsbury
9781635579291 $40.00
www.bloomsbury.com
Fans of British
baking television well know the name of Paul Hollywood and his lively expertise
on baking matters.
These readers, plus
newcomers to Hollywood's style and range of interests, will find Bake: My Best Ever Recipes for the Classics
to be an outstanding gathering of some of his biggest attractions.
Those who expect the
book to be filled with sweet items alone will be especially pleased to find that
it includes savory fare ranging from a Thai Chicken Pie to Hand-raised Sunday
Lunch Pie.
From Cheese Crackers to
English Muffins, breads, pizzas, sponges and puddings, Hollywood features a
host of attractive ideas for classic baked goods, tapping his years as a
professional baker and judge to profile the highlights of his career.
Even cookbook
collections that already have a healthy array of baking cookbooks will find
many outstanding recipes, here.
Boards
Elle Simone Scott
America's Test
Kitchen
9781954210004 $30.00
www.americastestkitchen.com
Boards-Stylish Spreads for Casual Gatherings is a study not just in
ingredients, but presentation style. It provides hosts with tips on how to
assemble eye-catching, attractive food boards for all kinds of events and
purposes.
Readers who associate
such "grazing boards" with meat and cheese may be surprised to know
how much more is possible.
Ella Simone Scott presents
display ideas and trade secrets that range from plating techniques to how to
keep boards looking fresh and new throughout the length of an event.
The result is a
highly recommended, colorful, photo-filled guide certain to shake up the usual
notion of board food. Culinary libraries looking for a different take on
entertaining will welcome this attractive book.
Breadsong
Kitty & Al Tait
Bloomsbury Publishing
1385 Broadway, New
York NY 10018
www.bloomsbury.com
Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives is not your typical bread
book, but a blend of memoir and celebration of the baking business that
presents a British father-and-daughter duo, whose innovative recipes and
connections create memorable results.
It follows both their
family's involvement in baking and their fun experiments and shared experiences
which evolved into The Orange Bakery, their first business partnership.
The dual blend of
cookbook and engrossing story of Kitty's struggle with mental health and their
family and community connections (cemented by baking) makes for far more than a
cookbook alone. Breadsong is highly
recommended for libraries interested in culinary-based explorations that hold a
taste of something satisfyingly different.
Cooking With Plant
Based Meat
America's Test
Kitchen
America's Test
Kitchen, Publisher
9781948703987 $35.00
www.americastestkitchen.com
Years ago, Cooking With Plant Based Meat might have
been considered by a library to be a specialty choice only for collections with
extensive vegetarian sections.
But as the idea and
availability of plant based meat moves from exotic to everyday, there is even
more need for a book like Cooking With
Plant Based Meat to appear in the average library's culinary collection.
With its typical
attention to foolproof recipes and how and why they work, America's Test
Kitchen is in the perfect position to produce a definitive "keeper"
cookbook on the subject.
It comes with
good-sized color photos of completed dishes, explores meat substitutes that
produce the best meaty-type flavors, and discusses why these substitutes work.
The vegan and
vegetarian recipes profiled within are packed with flavor beyond the meat
substitute, as in a Meat-Lover's Veggie Banh Mi sandwich which includes sauces
and zests, or Toasted Orzo Pilaf with Meatballs, Fennel, and Orange.
The diversity,
international influences, and foolproof recipes create a superior survey that
should be the item of choice if just one book on plant based meat cookery were
to be chosen for a lending library.
Curry Everyday
Atul Kochhar
Bloomsbury
9781472985996 $35.00
www.bloomsbury.com
Curry Everyday: Over 100 Simple Vegetarian Recipes from Jaipur to Japan
traverses the world in its search for curry dishes that represent different
cultures, and is highly recommended for collections that seek to move beyond
the usual association of curry with India alone.
Even those who
regularly make curry dishes will find many wonderful flavors here, from a
Kenyan Sweetcorn & Kidney Bean Curry to Ugandan Rolled Egg Wraps.
These and other
recipes stand out from most other curry books, accompanied by Atul Kochhar's
notes, which add additional attraction and flavor to the idea and making of
curry.
The result is a suggested
pick even for cooks and collections already steeped in curry cookbooks.
Wild Brews
Jaega Wise
Kyle Books
9780857837813 $24.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
Wild Brews: The Craft of Home Brewing, from Sour and Fruit Beers to
Farmhouse Ales promotes naturally fermented beer brewing from yeasts and
bacteria. This old style of flavor and brewing is fostered by Jaega Wise, head
brewer at East London's Wild Card Brewery and an expert in wild fermentation
processes.
His book explores
both the science of such brews and recipes that can be used by the home brewer,
featuring a diverse range of styles and an important section on
trouble-shooting issues that can arise from using wild yeasts.
The result is a craft
brew guidebook that places home brewing possibilities in the hands of novices
who would become experts in wild fermentation processes. It's an approach that
will make a fine adjunct to any culinary library strong in beer-making
discussions.
Reviewer's Choice
American TV Comic
Books 1940s-1980s
Peter Bosch
TwoMorrows Publishing
9781605491073 $29.95
www.twomorrows.com
American TV Comic Books 1940s-1980s: From the Small Screen to the
Printed Page focuses on television shows and the comic book adaptations
made from them, providing a year-by-year history of these efforts that follows
some two thousand adaptations across five decades.
While fans of comic
book history will of course be the major audience for this survey, so will
students of media history and studies that focus on the creative art of interpreting
television in different formats.
Peter Bosch includes
artist profiles, influences on television show successes, and notes about their
translation into comic format in a highly visual piece replete in color images
of comic book covers and art.
The result is a
'must' for any collection strong in definitive comic book history, but is also
highly recommended for television and media studies libraries.
The Insomnia Diaries
Miranda Levy
Aster/Octopus
Publishing
9781783254187 $12.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
The Insomnia Diaries: How I Learned to Sleep Again joins a host of books on the topic, but features an important
difference: it's written not by a doctor, but by one who suffered from insomnia
after a catastrophic event...for eight years.
Miranda Levy sought
help from a range of specialties, from physicians to hypnotists, therapists,
personal trainers, and alternative medicine practitioners, with little respite.
Her story is
supplemented by the work of sleep expert Dr. Sophie Bostock, a scientist who
developed a digital program, Sleepio. It blends a memoir with health science to
make for a powerful account that is more accessible than in most competing
books written by doctors who come from a singular conviction.
Linden
Publishing/Quill Driver Books
www.quilldriverbooks.com
Three new self-help
guides provide readers with solid resources for self-discovery and growth, and
are recommended picks for libraries specializing in inspirational writing.
Parents receive two
strong guides in this publisher's latest features; one of them being Sandi
Schwartz's Finding Ecohappiness: Fun
Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer (9780941936507,
$19.95).
Activity guides for
kids are nothing new, but what sets Finding
Ecohappiness apart from most is its focus on linking nature activities with
emotional healing and happiness.
Parents with kids who
need calming will find these many creative suggestions (complete with
checklists of activities and sidebars of instructions for effectively working
with kids to make the most of a nature experience) to be the perfect formula
for both engagement and introducing important links between calming and nature
discoveries.
Yes! Your Child Can: Creating Success for Children with Learning
Differences by Victoria E. Waller, Ed.D. (9781610353861, $18.95) should be
the first book a parent chooses when their child has been diagnosed with a
learning challenge.
It addresses family
relationships, support systems, and how to best work with such children,
sharing Dr. Waller's techniques for creating success and a sense of empowerment
and achievement in kids with learning differences.
The step-by-step
guidelines and discussions of science that supports her real-world-tested
techniques provides hope and specific direction.
Doug Stowe's The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life
(9781610355018, $16.95) links self-help to creativity as it explores how
working with one's hands results in a fuller life.
Stowe is both an
educator and craftsman who spent some forty-five years as a woodworker and
twenty as a teacher of handcrafts.
This dual role allows
him to flavor a memoir with instructions and insights on the connections
between craft work and a sense of achievement that can create new bonds in a
community and society as a whole.
All are powerful
picks for discriminating libraries looking for lasting lending value and books
that also promote book club and reader group discussions.
Paradise Close
Lisa Russ Spaar
Persea Books
9780892555312 $25.95
www.perseabooks.com
Fiction collections
looking for accomplished first novels will find Paradise Close a fine addition to any contemporary literature
collection.
It opens in 1971 New
Jersey, where an orphaned anorectic teen is released from a psychiatric
hospital and takes refuge in The Close, then is stranded after a snowstorm.
Lisa Russ Spaar
explores Marlise's story in the first section, which then turns to modern times
on the eve of the Trump election when Tee Handel, also a loner, finds his life
changed by an unexpected encounter.
These life stories
read like a memoir and initially seem to share only their appearance under one
cover, but a host of threads and insights emerge that invites unexpected
connections between them.
The result is a
literary survey of two disparate lives whose connections are far closer than
originally thought—a delightful synthesis of lives and metaphors for alienation
and connection that is highly recommended for modern literature collections.
Young Adult/Children
Candlewick Press
www.candlewick.com
While the oversized
presentation of Loveday Trinick's Oceanarium (9781536223811, $37.99) may stymie traditional library
shelving efforts, ideally this book will be on display more than it will repose
on an ordinary bookshelf.
It’s an aquarium in
book form that gathers some two hundred ocean creates and profiles them with large-sized
illusrrations by Teagan White.
From crustaceans and
Portuguese man-of-war to seahorses and pipefish, the full-page visual drawings
add delightful attraction to discussions of the extraordinary natural history
of many of these creatures.
The result is a
winning format designed to appeal even to reluctant science readers, and across
a wide age range from elementary levels into adult audiences.
John Schu's This is a School (9781536204582, $17.99)
features inviting illustrations by Veronica Miller Jamison and includes a
poster on the reverse side of the jacket as it explores the people who make up
a school, from teachers and staff to principals.
It's a celebration of
the school environment that profiles it as a "community, celebrating,"
giving kids the idea that school is a place for learning on different levels.
The Stardust That Made Us by Colin Stuart and Ximo Abadía
(9781536223835, $24.99) is another fine oversized science story that lends to
display. Its visual exploration of chemistry, elements, and the universe
assumes an inviting display of not only science, but the commendable
individuals who made discoveries that expanded the connections between human
natural history and the universe.
Inviting
illustrations throughout provide intriguing and fun images designed to attract
reader attention to the written word and the wealth of science presented in
this winning book.
Rajani LaRocca's I'll Go and Come Back (9781536207170,
$18.99) receives fun illustrations by Sara Palacios that bring to life the
story of Jyoti, who visits her grandmother in India, halfway around the world,
and faces a language barrier between them.
Despite this
obstacle, she and Sita Pati form a bond and share many experiences.
In Tamil, people
don't say goodbye. They say "I'll go and come back," and the promise
of being reunited embraces love and connections that adults will find moving
for read-aloud discussion.
Mac Barnett's John's Turn (9781536203950, $17.99)
receives appealing illustrations by Kate Berube as it surveys a daily cafeteria
performance by children who rotate being in the limelight.
It's John's turn,
today. Everyone else has done magic tricks, played instruments, or told jokes.
John does something different.
Also different is Mac
Barnett's lovely choice of exploring John's performance from the point of view
of a young audience member charged with watching him.
The result is
especially thought-provoking and inviting, offering a message parents will want
to discuss with their kids.
All are excellent
choices for children's picture book libraries and read-aloud parents alike.
Gecko Press
www.geckopress.com
Two new arrivals from
Gecko Press are recommended acquisitions for libraries looking for standouts in
picture book fiction.
Barbro Lindgren and
Eva Eriksson's The Tale of the Tiny Man
(9781776574094, $18.99) tells of a tiny man who puts a note on a tree asking
for a friend to respond.
It takes ten days
before he receives an unexpected gift that helps mitigate his loneliness in a
story parents will want to choose for read-aloud interest and for discussions
about friendship, loneliness, and making connections.
Elephant Island by Leo Timmers (9781776574346, $18.99) tells of a
seafaring elephant who finds himself stranded on an island when his boat sinks.
He is "alone,
alone, all, all alone, alone on a wide wide sea," but can a large elephant
be rescued by a small mouseboat?
Parents who choose
this book for read-aloud fun will find it a zany and intriguing title.
Good Eating
Matt Lilley
Tilbury House
Publishers
9780884488675 $18.95
www.tilburyhouse.com
Matt Lilley's Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill
receives lovely illustrations by Dan Tavis as it invites young picture book
readers into the life of a krill from birth to death.
The step-by-step
natural history tackles some weighty subjects, such as metanauplius, but uses
an invitingly questioning tone to involve young readers in the krill's
evolutionary process.
Educators interested
in early introductions to marine biology will find Good Eating an excellent first step to understanding the food
chain, beginning with the krill's life cycle and importance.
Light the Sky,
Firefly
Sheri Mabry Bestor
Sleeping Bear Press
978153411158 $17.99
www.sleepingbearpress.com
Light the Sky, Firefly is a natural history story of fireflies that
covers their four developmental stages, and blends whimsical illustrations with
science to make for an intriguing STEM exploration.
Ages 4-8 will
appreciate the vivid drawings, while read-aloud adults will found the sound
effects ("Squishy, squish, squish.")
just as fun as their young readers.
Following the life
cycle of the firefly, this survey creates a winning examination that will
attract the interest even of those residing in areas where fireflies do not
exist.
Nour's Secret Library
Wafa' Tarnowska
Barefoot Books
9781646862924
www.barefootbooks.com
Nour's Secret Library is set in Syria and examines how books bring
new ideas and hope to the people of that nation.
Vali Mintzi's fun
illustrations enhance Wafa' Tarnowska's exploration of Syria's culture and the
impact of literacy and books on everyday people.
When war erupts, two
children experience conflict and bombings, and develop a plan for a secret
society to save the books.
The social and
political backdrop of Syria will educate young picture book readers, while the
story creates a vivid tale about problem-solving at a higher level than kids
usually tackle, making for a fine choice for either read-aloud or explorations
of war, peace, and literacy in other countries.
Penguin
www.penguin.com/kids
These new picture
books are fine picks for libraries seeking lasting lending value and attractive
blends of illustration and story.
Shannon Hale's This Book is Not for You!
(9781984816856, $18.99) pairs fun illustrations by Tracy Subisak with the story
of bookmobile day, which ordinarily thrills avid reader Stanley ... until an
obstinate librarian refuses to allow him to read a book about a girl.
The man insists that
girls' books are only for girls. How can Stanley maintain, in turn, that all books
are for both genders? It takes an unusual turn of events for him to make his
point in a memorable way that kids and read-aloud adults will find amusing and
thought-provoking.
Christy Mihaly's Patience, Patches! (9780593108291,
$17.99) receives engaging illustrations by Sheryl Murray as it tells of
Patches, a patient puppy who is stymied by an unexpected addition to his
family.
The requests upon him
to be even more patient would frustrate anyone. Can the new arrival bring with
it more than rules that Patches finds impossible to follow long-term?
This gentle story
holds many different messages, from cultivating patience and adapting to new
circumstances to understanding changing family roles. Parents especially will
find its gentle message lends to discussion.
Deborah Freedman's Tiny Dino (9780593352649, $17.99) makes
the claim that dinosaurs still roam the Earth, albeit in different forms.
A variety of animal
participants explain the presence of tiny dinos in modern times, bringing both pleasure
and information to young dinosaur-enthralled readers through very simple
dialogue, eye-catching images, and action words.
Shannon Stocker's Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, A Deaf Girl,
Changed Percussion (9780593109694, $17.99) receives colorful and lively
illustrations by Devon Holzwarth as it considers a young musical genius who
goes deaf, seemingly destroying her dreams of becoming a musician.
After all, a deaf
girl can't create music...or, can she?
This story not only
explores the musical world of Evelyn Glennie, but invites young music
aficionados to develop their own different means of absorbing and defining what
constitutes music in this appealing story of adaptation and creativity.
All are fine choices
for discriminating collections.
Sandor Katz and the
Tiny Wild
Jacqueline Briggs
Martin and June Jo Lee
Readers to Eaters
9780998047713 $19.95
www.readerstoeaters.com
Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild is illustrated with zany, appealing
drawings by Julie Wilson and introduces Sandor Katz, who educates people not in
school, but in a new environment, teaching them how to make fermented foods.
It's unusual to find
a discussion about fermented foods geared to early readers, but Jacqueline
Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee do a fine job of explaining a complex subject for
their young audiences, discussing invisible microbes that transform ordinary
foods into something extraordinary.
Parents and educators
looking for a lively, true story that blends autobiography with food facts and
even recipes will relish the attraction and unusual appeal of Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, which
will interest a wide audience of all ages.
Simon & Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
These latest arrivals
from Simon & Schuster provide young readers with picture book stories that
are captivating and colorful.
For a cross-cultural
flavor of Mother Goose, Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal's Mother Goose Goes to India
(9781534439603, $17.99) takes an unexpected journey that captures delightful
nuances.
Wazza Pink's lovely
illustrations capture the vision and fun of fifteen classic nursery rhymes
revisited in this intriguing collection. Read-aloud parents will find the Hindi
words and settings impart important information about Indian culture as it
discusses its peoples.
The Runaway Pea Washed Away by Kjartan Poskitt (9781534490161,
$17.99) receives simple, whimsical drawings by Alex Willmore as it provides
another hilarious story of Pea.
Pea barely escapes
being a snack, but when he spins down a drain, he's sure that his adventures
are just beginning.
A lesson in positive
outlook and trust evolves as Pea enters a very different world and absorbs its
new possibilities.
Even Robots Aren't Perfect! by Jan Thomas (9781655911658, $17.99)
tackles the subject of creative imperfection as a robot repeatedly fails at the
job of being an artist as he and his companion explore the world.
The differences
between Red Robot and Blue Robot are many, but different attitudes between
friends are the real highlight here as the robots face adventure, obstacles,
and different outlooks on life.
Jonathan Hillman's Big Wig (9781534487710, $17.99) receives
large-sized and entertaining drawings by Levi Hastings as it surveys a gaudy
wig, a gaudy queen who decides to compete in the Big Wig Ball, and a
competition that demands they stand out in new ways.
As everyone wigs out,
the adventure becomes a rollicking exploration of originality that will delight
young readers and their read-aloud adults alike.
David Sundin's The Book That Did Not Want to be Read
(9781665010811, $17.99) is an "experience" that invites ages 4-8 to
partake of a reluctant book's contents.
This book will do
anything to avoid being read, from sprouting wings to fly away to inviting
grown-ups and kids to just turn the page without reading.
Some of its logic
will prove heady for young readers, but adults who choose this story as a
read-aloud will find it easy to explore these whimsical thoughts with kids.
All are standouts in
the picture book world, worthy of library consideration and inclusion.
Stop the Clock!
Pippa Goodhart
Tiny Owl
9781910328828 $16.99
www.tinyowl.co.uk
Pippa Goodhart's Stop the Clock! receives fun,
kid-centric drawings by Maria Christiania Winardi as it literally follows a
race against time in a picture book story that starts with being late to
school.
Time concerns
permeate the story, as there's much to achieve by certain hours and the adults
who direct activities and seem to control time somehow never allow enough time
for anything.
Joe wants something
different. Can he single-handedly turn back the hands of time?
The fun story is
filled with light-hearted, realistic insights.
Tiger Tales
www.tigertalesbooks.com
Two new arrivals
provide elementary-level readers with alluring, interesting stories.
Readers in grades 3-5
will enjoy Rachel Delahaye's Little Owl
Rescue (9781664340114, $4.99), which presents another magical adventure
involving Callie's efforts to save wild animals around the world.
An abandoned owlet
leads her to want to help the little bird, but the rescue process immerses her
in other environmental issues that expand and challenge her problem-solving
abilities.
Kids who enjoy
chapter book stories about young heroes and the natural world will enjoy
reading about Callie's discoveries and mission.
The Hotel for Bugs by Suzy Senior features whimsical illustrations
by Leire Martín as it tells of a brand new, fabulous hotel for bugs that
features mossy rugs and luxury.
The bugs swarm in and
enjoy the new environment until one squishy, shiny, blobby denizen seeks a room
and is turned away.
After all, this is a
hotel for bugs, not slugs.
The lesson on difference and inclusiveness will receive additional strength from adults who choose this fun story as a read-aloud example of adversity and connection, making it a top recommendation for mindful parents who would pair fun with educational opportunities.