May 2024 Prime Picks

Reviewer's Choice

Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2024-2025
Judith Miller
Miller’s Publishing
9781784729431 $49.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com

Because Judith Miller’s Antiques Handbook & Price Guide receives regular updates, each edition proves an authoritative reference that either stands alone well or, when taken into consideration with its preceding incarnations, helps readers trace price trends. The book first appeared in 1979 to easily earn the title of being of the most updated collector’s general guide on the market.

Over 8,000 antiques, from ceramics and furniture to jewelry and textiles, are included in this latest edition. Some 600 pages are packed with color photography, including not only small but clear images suitable for identification purposes, but sidebars of reference data about particular companies or makers, and their histories.

All these elements make Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2024-2025 a resounding ‘must’ for any library or individual seeking an authoritative, industry-respected guide to the latest antiques values.

The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook
America’s Test Kitchen
America’s Test Kitchen, Publisher
9781954210875 $40.00
www.americastestkitchen.com

If The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook sounds familiar, that’s because it originally appeared in 2014 to become an instant NY Times bestseller, selling some 700,000 copies. All its recipes were re-engineered dishes for couples instead of families, making it a guaranteed success for those seeking smaller meal options and recipes.

This revised 10^th anniversary edition packs in over 200 new recipes (making its contents some 700 dishes in total), providing more plant-based offerings, plus air-fryer dishes to make the most of current trends and modern technology.

Lest novices think that scaling down recipes merely involves cutting them in half, it should be noted that spices don’t scale, cooking times can vary immensely for reduced sizes, and challenges emerge from such circumstances as halving an egg in a recipe.

Some 17 new chapters reduce food waste and, along with the recipes, provide tips on main courses and leftover usage alike.

Add in the wealth of small, appealing color photos throughout that pair well with ‘why this recipe works’ insights for a sterling winner in The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook. It should be part of any cook’s collection, as well as libraries catering to them.

Young Adult/Children

Candlewick Press
www.candlewickpress.com

New arrivals from Candlewick provide inviting examinations and picture books that adults can share with kids to prompt lively discussions.

First up is Liz Garton Scanlon’s Everyone Starts Small (9781536226157, $18.99), which pairs evocative images by illustrator Dominique Ramsey with the inviting story of basic ecological systems working in harmony to foster and support life.

This connection is emphasized here, from how water helps Tree’s thirst and growth to how Sun’s rays nurture all life. Even Fire plays a role in supporting living things (even though it may not initially seem positive, to kids).

Gorgeous illustrations support Scanlon’s fine survey.

Helen Frost and Rick Lieder’s The Mighty Pollinators (9781536229103, $18.99) is an exceptionally powerful picture book about creatures that pollinate the world, combining poems with stunning close-up photography of pollinators in action.

From ants to flies, butterflies, bees, and moths, this review of ‘creatures that hold the world together’ is exceptionally alluring.

Caldecott Honor Recipient Aaron Becker’s The Last Zookeeper ( 9781536227680, $18.99) tells of NOA, the last of a crew of seawall construction machines that faces a flooded world alone.

NOA finds a new purpose, however, when he must save the animals of an abandoned zoo using his robotic abilities.

Sci-fi blends with a message of connection, hope, change, and caring in a captivating wordless picture book that adults will want to enjoy along with youngsters.

Melanie Crowder and Megan Benedict’s Great Gusts: Winds of the World and the Science Behind Them (9781536224511, $18.99) receives fine illustrations by Khoa Le as it explores the science of winds and how different cultures around the world describe and define them.

From the Japanese ‘oroshi’ to Libya’s ‘ghibli’, powerful images cement the world-hopping contrasts between wind experiences in a journey that kids will relish.

All are highly recommended for read-aloud discussion and insights.

Wm. B. Eerdmans
www.eerdmans.com

These new arrivals from Eerdmans offer young picture book readers intriguing topics, while read-aloud parents will appreciate their special approaches.

A learning opportunity is provided by Olga Fadeeva in Water: Discovering the Precious Resource All Around Us (9780802856227, $18.99). This will appeal to readers ages 8 and older, with its illustrations and survey of the importance of water and what happens when there is either too much or too little of a good thing.

Lena Traer translates this invitation to review history and science into a survey that engages kids in a sense of discovery through facts and artistic embellishments.

Adults interested in cultivating both animal affection and gratitude will find Lee Bennett Hopkins produces an attraction for both in Bless Our Pets: Poems of Gratitude for Our Animal Friends (9780802855466).

Gorgeous illustrations by Lita Judge accompany these poetic celebrations of pets, which will appeal to ages 4-8 with an amusing collection powered by diverse poets and children’s authors.

Fourteen animals, from kitties to goldfish and gerbils, receive embellishment, insights, and fun observation.

Thea Lu’s Here & There (9780802856234, $19.99) gives picture book readers ages 3-5 an appealing story that contrasts different lives on land and sea.

The joys of each (and points where their experiences dovetail) make for a read-aloud attraction as sparse text blends with illustrations in ink, colored pencil, and collage to emphasize the parallel (yet contrasting) differences in two lives which each prove satisfying to those living them.

These are recommended picks for picture book readers, elementary-level libraries, and adults looking for inviting, creative read-alouds.

Kalanoit Books
www.kalanoitbooks.com

Neri Aluma’s The Hedgehog Who Said Who Cares? (9798986396576, $19.99) receives whimsical, attractive illustrations by Amit Trainin as it surveys Hedgehog, who builds his home in the middle of the road, blocking his neighbors Rabbit and Mouse.

Though they complain, he simply doesn’t care. What will change his mind?

This fine picture book includes thought-provoking reflections on community connections, making it a top recommendation for read-aloud adults seeking to engage children in dialogues about kindness, consideration of others, and caring.

Rebecca Klempner’s How to Welcome An Alien (9798986396538, $19.99) holds colorful, zany, fun drawings by Shirley Waisman as it reviews the dilemma of an alien family’s spaceship, which lands in Dina’s backyard.

What else is there to do than welcome a stranger with traditional Jewish hospitality?

The sci-fi twist and humor blend nicely in a picture book story that holds important underlying lessons on kindness, immigrants, and aliens.

Yirmi Pinkus illustrates Haya Shenhav’s 100 Rooms (9781962011990, $19.99), giving the absurd story excellent embellishment as it tells of a man who lives in a house with 100 rooms.

Things are always not only in the wrong place, but often far away.

Friendships, opportunity, expansive dilemmas, and fun permeate a tale that tackles the idea that more doesn’t necessarily translate to better.

These are fine recommendations for elementary-level libraries and adult read-aloud enjoyment alike.

The Most Delicious Soup and Other Stories
Mariana Ruiz Johnson
Berbay Publishing Pty Ltd.
9781922610614 $18.99
www.berbaybooks.com

Mariana Ruiz Johnson’s The Most Delicious Soup and Other Stories is translated by Rosalind Harvey. It provides picture book readers with delightful, whimsical short story adventures experienced by a host of creatures, from giraffes and rabbits to snakes, mice in wheelchairs, and more.

All these reside at Villa Verde, where friendships are tested (in the short piece ‘Firm Friends’, about a young crocodile and his troublesome new pet Thunder). A library beckons with surprises on a rainy day when there’s nothing to do (in ‘Journeys on Paper’) and young Gina, who wants everything she sees at the market, discovers that tantrums and demands don’t always dominate life (in “That’s Enough, Gina!”).

All offer lessons and fun that read-aloud adults will enjoy exploring.

Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com

These lovely new picture book arrivals from Sleeping Bear Press are highly recommended picks for elementary-level library collections.

First up is Judy Young’s T is for Trails: A Hiking Alphabet (9781534112773, $18.99), which will appeal to ages 6-10 with a story further enhanced by Sharisse Steber’s exceptionally colorful illustrations.

Poetry and expository text contribute to an A-Z exploration of hiking and the outdoors. These capture the hiker’s experience, impart lessons on safety and making the most of the outdoors, and include tips on gear, trail etiquette, and more.

Encounters cemented by eye-catching illustrations thus provide invaluable tips on how to explore nature.

Frank Murphy and April Groman’s A Voice Like Yours (9781534112071, $18.99) receives inviting illustration by Kayla Harren as it contrasts the lives and voices of people around the world, revealing how they lend to communication and understanding.

From kind acts to sign language and different forms of verbal and nonverbal communication, kids learn volumes about expression, intention, and how understanding may be promoted in different ways.

Its further insights on adaptive communication for those with disabilities will broaden all young readers’ knowledge.

Gauri Dalvi Pandya’s A Kurta to Remember (9781534113107, $18.99) enjoys illustrations by Avandi Dwivedi as it tells of a little girl’s move from India to a new country. But, how will she maintain contact with those she loves at home when they are an ocean apart?

Insights on staying connected to extended family and friends and ways of making sure lives remain engaged and meaningful accompany all sorts of insights on India’s culture, with references to Marathi words expanding a child’s insights on Indian traditions and heritage.

Kim Michele Richardson’s Junia: The Book Mule of Troublesome Creek (9781534113039, $18.99) is quite simply a standout, between its story of how a mule carries her Book Woman through backcountry Kentucky to bring library books to rural readers, to exceptionally vivid illustrations by David C. Gardner which capture the excitement of Junia’s experiences.

Picture book readers receive a vivid coverage of adventurous Book Woman Junia’s experience on the roads.

Parents will find it the perfect read-aloud tale.

A Little Bit of Everything by Meghana Narayan (9781534112926, $18.99) is packed with colorful illustrations by Michelle Carlos. It explores a daughter’s birth and her parents’ wisdom about her life’s meaning (“You have a little bit of where you go, and a bit of who you meet. You have a little bit of the things you do, and a bit of who you want to be.”).

Amaya absorbs these early lessons in value as she grows into her life, but when a new baby arrives, how can she transmit similar wisdom to her new sibling?

These lovely stories are engaging, educational, and thought-provoking, offering a diverse set of insights that read-aloud adults and kids alike will appreciate.

Strong
Clara Anganuzzi
Tiger Tales
9781664300408 $18.99
www.tigertales.com

Strong tells of Maurice, an atypical dragon who differs from all others in his desire to be peaceful, gentle, and non-threatening, despite his fire-breathing heritage.

Just because he cultivates serenity, however, doesn’t mean that Maurice isn’t strong. He can be strong in different ways, which come to light when his brother needs help. This may be the perfect opportunity to transmit better ways to others around him—those who would rather use fire than peace to solve problems.

Lovely illustrations assure visual attraction and interest in a read-aloud story that parents will want to use to reinforce discussions about peace and strength.

Tilbury House Publishers
www.tilburyhouse.com

Two new arrivals from Tilbury House give readers food for thought in fun picture book tales.

Jennifer Dupuis’s This is Not My Lunchbox (9781668936856, $18.95) will reach ages 4-8 with a story that excels in lovely, colorful illustrations by Carol Schwartz.

Whose lunch box is filled with snails, spiders, and eggs? Certainly it’s not a young camper boy’s. But, who would eat these things? Why, the downy woodpecker, for one.

As the boy draws connections between different foods and their special eaters, subjects of biodiversity and ecology offer young naturalists fine lessons in who eats what in the wild.

I Am Gravity by Henry Herz (9781668936849, $18.95) receives inviting drawings by Mercé López as it pairs a first-person reflection by Gravity with insights on its pull both on Earth and the universe.

Kids will learn about the science of gravity while being entertained by historical reflection and insights that reinforce STEM learning approaches.

Both are highly recommended picks.

This Wolf Was Different
Katie Slivensky
Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster
9781665900959 $18.99
www.simonandschuster.com

This Wolf Was Different enjoys engaging illustrations by Hannah Salyer as it follows the life of a young wolf who doesn’t exhibit the typical predatory traits of her siblings.

She prefers staying in the den rather than getting into trouble and having adventures; she doesn’t like to fight and explore like her siblings do, and each night she wishes she were more like them (“a real wolf”).

But she isn’t like anything around her, which makes her feel lonely and odd.

When she meets another creature who also diverges from the norm, a fine adventure evolves—highly recommended reading for read-aloud parents whose kids feel ‘different’.

We Love You As Much as the Fox Loves Its Tail
Masiana Kelly
Inhabit Media
9781772274769 $17.95
www.inhabitmedia.com

We Love You As Much as the Fox Loves Its Tail features attractive drawings by Tamara Campeau as it explores how a new baby is welcomed to the family.

Joy, celebration, and appreciation permeate an enthusiastic sense of welcoming as the baby’s arrival is compared to various facets of nature, which the family also celebrates.

Picture book read-aloud adults seeking engaging, simple stories of a family’s expansion will find the joy and color presented in this story to be outstanding.