May 2026 Prime Picks
Reviewer's Choice
Reviewer's Choice
5 Ingredient Indian
Chetna Makan
Hamlyn
9780600639763 $32.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
5 Ingredient Indian: Delicious Ingredients Made Easy shows that Indian fare at home can be easy to produce, requiring a minimum of special ingredients and time. These meals, made for entertaining, utilize spice blends as their foundation, with introductory color-coded pages of such blends allowing cooks to create them from common kitchen spices.
Full-page color photos of finished dishes such as Herby Pulao (a rice/herb/spice-infused dish) and various fish curries make the dishes especially appealing, even for newcomers to Indian fare.
If one Indian cookbook were to be chosen for beginning cooks, 5 Ingredient Indian should be at the top of the list.
All the Ferraris
Serge Bellu
Cassell
9781788406413 $60.00
www.octopusbooks.com
All the Ferraris: The Ferrari Bible: A Complete Guide to Over 600 Models is the only Ferrari book needed for the enthusiast seeking a comprehensive guide to all of the models and Ferrari history.
This oversized presentation is packed with color photos of every model Ferrari has ever produced, alongside history, details of their craftsmanship, and archival documents.
A chronological arrangement makes it easy to look up specific models - or readers can simply absorb the entire progression of Ferrari creations over the years as historian Serge Bellu creates a powerful survey of Ferrari’s changing designs, technology, and trends.
Young Adult/Children
Eternal Tree Books
www.eternaltreebooks.com
Two new arrivals from Eternal Tree offer picture book readers colorful, vivid tales of discovery.
Anu Sehgal and Komal Garg’s Cholo Bazaar: Let’s Go to the Market (9781953384478, $18.99) is a “Bilingual Beginnings: My Indian Language Adventure” story that receives engaging illustrations by Chandrima Chatterjee as it surveys an Indian market adventure in Hindi and English. Kids learn the vocabulary for fruits, vegetables, and colors as they absorb market delights.
I Am A Lotus by Anu Sehgal and Diah Chakrauborty (9781953384416, $18.99) examines the strength and meaning of a lotus flower, offering a tale of inner wisdom and insights about harmony that adults can employ to engage kids in higher-level thinking than is usually afforded the picture book crowd: “I am a lotus. My roots, my leaves, and my stem work in harmony with each other to keep me afloat and alive. When you work harmoniously, you become me.”
Both picture books are outstanding in their blends of colorful and informational attraction.
Penguin Books
New arrivals from Penguin Books provide picture book readers and elementary-level libraries with a diverse range of attractive options for leisure pursuit.
Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On (9780593533024, $18.99) receives lively illustrations by Gillian Eilidh O’Mara as it explores Bae’s desire to do something different with her great-aunt during one of their Sunday visits.
An attic room Bea never knew existed is filled with shelves of records (“A song for every emotion.”) and introduces her to a rainbow of listening, dancing, and music. Joy comes from sharing these works and a love of music
Deborah Freedman’s Flowers for Mama (9780593695494, $18.99) will attract ages 3-7 with the story of kittens who decide to give their mother flowers for her special day. These are stitched, sung, or drawn and stamped in different ways - but Oleander decides to actually grow a flower from a seed. Will it bloom in time?
Art and flowers combine in a fun story of love.
Blanca Gómez’s Bookie & Cookie Turn the Page (9780593696835, $18.99) tells of two friends who open a blank page, considering all the possibilities for filling in the future.
Who knew the next page in their story would be filled with so many opportunities? From a whimsical parade elephant and a field of marshmallows to the pros and cons posed by different experiences, the two friends consider all options in a wild, imaginative ride kids will relish taking.
Mary Oliver’s Goldfinches (9780593692417, $18.98) features lovely art by Melissa Sweet and pairs a Pulitzer Prize-winning author with a Caldecott Honor artist in a joint celebration of nature, goldfinches, and lovely new seasonal opportunities.
The juxtaposition of birds, plants, nature, and warmth will widely appeal to all ages in a story suitable for gift giving to children, adults, and anyone who appreciates poetic reflection and beautiful illustrations.
More Than a Tree by Sarah Kurpiel (9780593697689, $18.99) tells of a girl’s beloved backyard tree that begins to lose branches and shake in the wind. The old tree has long been part of her life, but it’s now time to say goodbye and make way for the new – in this case, a small sapling the girl is charged with protecting.
The story of the circle of life and a girl’s responsibility in connecting with nature makes for a vivid, simple presentation that invites young picture book readers to consider their own relationship with nature.
Serafina Makes Waves by Matthew Burgess (9780593699638, $18.99) pairs inviting, whimsical, large-size illustrations by Robin Rosenthal with the story of a young cat who hates water.
This proves a big problem when her parents say she must learn to swim. How can she change their minds – or escape their mandate to overcome her fear?
As Serafina confronts a cat-astrophe, new revelations emerge from what feels like a disastrous event, making for a powerful story all ages will find interesting and thought-provoking.
Kashmira Sheth’s Taking Flight (9798217003884, $18.99) receives especially evocative illustrations by Nicolò Carozzi as it examines the experience of being a refugee. Three different families in Tibet, Syria, and Ukraine pack their bags and leave behind everything familiar and loved to journey to a place of safety that they’ll call their new home.
The contrast in experiences, children, and environments creates an especially evocative set of insights into different refugee experiences and reasons for starting anew.
Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama Graduation Day! (9780593353233, $18.99) follows Llama’s reluctance to line up with his class and say goodbye to his teacher and classmates.
JT Morrow provides large-size, colorful illustrations to accompany this rhyming story of why Llama is so reluctant to say goodbye and how he comes to terms with change in a perfect survey of transitions that can open dialogues with the very young.
Jill Santopolo’s Can You Grow a Striped Banana? (9780593858851, $18.99) tackles the dilemma of a mother whose child asks for many impossible, fanciful things.
These are things a mother can’t do – such as bathe a brontosaurus, drink fresh chocolate milk from a tiny chocolate cow, or steer a paper airplane into an ice cream lake.
The winning, appealing forays into fantasy will delight kids interested in a fun way of considering what their mothers can do, and for mothers considering the fanciful possibilities of young imaginations, making read-aloud a pleasurable sharing of minds.
Carrie Finison’s Even Steven: A Book About Sharing (9780593859001, $18.99) features fun drawings by Daniel Wiseman as it surveys young Steven, who loves to share and “make everything even.” But perfection can be a problem, because sometimes things won’t divide evenly or be fair. How can Steven assure fairness?
Read-aloud adults will find plenty of the dialogues between Steven and his peers offer important insights:
“Steven! Sometimes taking turns isn’t the best way to share. Could we all use the blocks together? Steven is not sure how to share this way. Will it be fun? Will it be fair? Will it be EVEN?”
Randy Ribay and Zeke Peña’s Hold (9780593856987, $18.99) tells of a harried father trying to gather everything needed to leave the house with a toddler in tow.
When he engages his child to help by holding something, a new game and purpose emerges which give father and son new, whimsical discussions and possibilities. These will delight young picture book readers and their read-aloud adults.
Marilyn Singer’s All I Want to Do Is Swim (9780593752395, $18.99) receives lovely illustrations by Luisa Uribe as it surveys a girl who finishes her swim lessons, only to find more inviting reasons to keep being engaged with the water world around her.
This celebration of various types of and reasons for swimming will prove especially inviting to water-reluctant young readers, outlining a joy of exploration which leads to a deep dive into ocean pleasures, sea creatures, and some amazing discoveries.
Each book holds colorful insights to attract leisure readers, but delivers more than adventure alone, which read-aloud adults will relish.
A Song in the Dark
Brooke Archer
Putnam
9780593698358 $19.99
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
Jo’s mom envisions the small town of Blackridge as a fresh start for the family after a terrible accident, but an old house filled with ghosts isn’t the perfect place to begin anew.
When Jo meets mysterious Finn, she finds herself connected to him by their interests even though he’s a ghost – one of many in the house. Secrets emerge which give teens a riveting blend of romance, mystery, and intrigue in a story perfect for leisure readers who love spooky stories and tales of teen connection.