October 2021 Prime Picks

The Culinary Corner

America's Test Kitchen
www.americastestkitchen.com

These recent cookbook arrivals continue to represent culinary excellence, providing standout recipe collections that are virtually foolproof and accessible to wide audiences.

Once again, America's Test Kitchen has nailed the task of producing kitchen-tested, foolproof recipes in a format and focus that today's busy or overwhelmed home cook can readily appreciate.

Five-Ingredient Dinners (9781948703925, $29.99) is one such creation, focusing on easy dinners that eschew specialty ingredients and lengthy preparations in favor of foods that retain the high quality of home-cooked meals.

Some of these creations may sound time-consuming, as in Salmon with Asparagus and Chive Butter Sauce or Creamy Egg Noodles with Pork, but all involve minimum preparations while taking advantage of the new ingredients most grocery stores stock (such as Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs cheese, or shitake mushrooms).

The result is an outstanding example of how a modern, healthy meal may be produced relatively effortlessly.

Just in time for winter pursuit, The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook (9781948703840, $34.99) features over five hundred recipes for comfort foods, roasts, desserts, and food gifts for the colder months of the year. It will appeal to cooks who look for seasonal dishes with a difference.

One example is a recipe for Black-Eyed Peas with Walnuts and Pomegranate, which eschews the usual plain ham hock-spiced New Year's traditional dish for one packed with flavorful surprises.

A color photo accompanies the dish, which proves as filling and more appealing than its traditional cousin.

From traditional Apple Pandowdy ("more rustic than an apple pie") to a seasonal blend of tart dried cranberries and rich walnuts in a sandwich Cranberry-Walnut Loaf, The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook excels in a variety of delicious options custom tailored for cold weather and the need for a warm kitchen.

One-Hour Comfort (9781948703826, $29.99) offers a comfort food cookbook that adds "quick" onto the ingredients list, providing uncomplicated and appealing dishes.

From Korean Fried Chicken Wings and Spaghetti Al Limone to a Laotian Crispy Rice Salad, these standout dishes feature an international diversity which sets this comfort food book (and the notion of what constitutes comfort foods) apart from most American-oriented comfort food cookbooks.

The full-page color photos are fine embellishment.

All these cookbooks are winners that pair kitchen-tested, foolproof recipes with a slant of appeal that make them standouts.

Cookin' Louisiana
Kevin Belton with Monica Belton
Gibbs Smith
9781423658382 $28.00
www.gibbs-smith.com

So many books about Cajun cooking are on the market today that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but Cookin' Louisiana: Flavors from the Parishes of the Pelican State features a regional focus that many don't delineate, contrasting dishes from multiple parishes across the state to profile the flavor varieties that represent Louisiana classic fare.

From Crawfish Burgers to Creole BLT Cheesecake and Creole-Spiced Mixed Nuts, these flavor differences enhance a cookbook exceptionally strong in variety, that captures and features the differences of the state's regional offerings.

Even collections that have numerous Creole and Cajun cookbooks already in their holdings will find these parish-arranged dishes exceptional, and their accompanying color photos mouth-watering.

Freeze
Ruby Bell and Milly Bagot
Mitchell Beazley
9781784727482 $19.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com

Freeze: Super Nourishing Meals to Batch Cook, Freeze and Eat on Demand comes from the frozen food delivery service and expertise of ByRuby, and focuses on batch recipes that can be frozen and defrosted for quick home meals.

While some may think that any dish can be readily frozen and defrosted, the truth is that there are a number of dishes that degrade, under this process.

ByRuby's business is knowing which recipes lend best to this endeavor. Their tips on portioning, labeling, dating, choosing containers, and making dishes that freeze well can't be beat.

Many can even be reheated directly from the freezer, increasing the idea of convenient, make-ahead, freezer-based food that moves well from freezer to piping hot on the table.

Readers who want a freezer cookbook that features the best intersection of modern dishes and effortless presentation will find that Freeze stands out from the crowd.

The Hungry Eye
Leonard Barkan
Princeton University Press
9780691211466 $49.95
www.press.princeton.edu

The Hungry Eye: Eating, Drinking, and European Culture from Rome to the Renaissance pairs lovely illustrations with culinary history as it draws links between literature, art, philosophy, and culture.

From ancient works of art and philosophical descriptions of a drinking party during Plato's times to ancient Rome's depictions of culinary delights and oddities, Leonard Barkan traverses history to consider how eating and drinking influenced and changed cultures as they interacted throughout history.

It's unusual to have a culinary history that is also highly recommended for arts holdings; but The Hungry Eye is a feast of mind and eye that holds much food for thought for scholarly audiences interested in a different approach to food and drink's importance in human affairs.

One Pan, One Meal
Elena Silcock
Hamlyn
9780600637097 $19.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com

One Pan, One Meal features over eighty easy recipes designed to fit not only hectic lifestyles, but limited budgets and small kitchens. It promotes dishes that use either a large saucepan or non-stick frying pan alone. Nothing is exotic, expensive, or needs side dishes to round out their appeal (unlike so many one-dish cookbooks).

Full-page color photos accompany recipes such as Sticky Five-Spice Aubergine and Rice, Butter Chicken Curry, and Bloody Mary Risotto.

Vegan and other options are mentioned for some dishes, but all hold the special value of being appealing in and of themselves.

Busy cooks who eschew books that require specialty cookware or expensive exotic ingredients will find much to like about One Pan, One Meal.

The Secret History of Food
Matt Siegel
Ecco/Harper Collins
9780062973214 $27.99
www.eccobooks.com

The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat focuses on familiar foods and examines their origins and stories, from Italian olive oil and changing notions of comfort foods to generational changes in eating habits, and what influenced these transitions.

It's a lovely coverage that pairs food facts with fun stories and candid insights about how food is grown, marketed, and adapted to changing tastes. Many of the marketing history is especially intriguing and surprising (if not occasionally unappetizing): "It's no coincidence that food stylists and adult film stylists tend to use a lot of the same tools behind camera to make objects look sexier...it's not unusual to see food stylists using things like lipstick to redden berries, eyeliner to paint in grill marks, nail polish and personal lubricants like K-Y Jelly to keep foods looking moist and glossy, and white lotion in place of milk to prevent cereals from getting soggy on set."

This lively, delightful probe will ideally reach non-culinary audiences with its intriguing survey of food's underlying history and oddities in stories which usually don't reach the public eye.

Tarkari
Rohit Ghai
Kyle Books
9780857839329 $29.99
www.kylebooks.com

Tarkari: Innovative Vegetarian and Vegan Indian Dishes with Heart and Soul explores India's vegetable-based fare, joining other cookbooks to provide an emphasis on vegetarian and vegan dishes while exploring the foods that Rohit Ghai remembers from family legacies.

Many are innovations not to be found in competing Indian cookbooks, such as Tofu and Green Pea Tikki, a Maharashtrian version of eggplant curry (Bharleli Vagni), or a Rawalpindi dish that originates from the days before the India-Pakistan partition, Pindi Chana, seasoned with anise seeds, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.

Indian cooks seeking expanded options and uses of vegetarian dishes and contemporary as well as traditional fare will find much to like in Tarkari, which is packed with full-page color photos throughout.

Truffle Hound
Rowan Jacobsen
Bloomsbury Publishing
9781635575194 $28.00
www.bloomsbury.com

Truffle Hound: On the Trail of the World's Most Seductive Scent, with Dreamers, Schemers, and Some Extraordinary Dogs will appeal to culinary and pet collections alike with its fun exploration of truffle hunting, which extends around the world and embraces a variety of techniques.

One usually thinks of pigs when presented with the specter of truffle hunters, but this survey of how truffles are located embraces the dog's role in uncovering the largess, as well as the cook's role in utilizing it in various dishes.

As Rowan Jacobsen travels the globe experiencing dishes and methods of tracking down the elusive gold standard of mushrooms, readers also receive a travelogue that probes different cultures and their approaches to the truffle.

The result is more wide-ranging than a cookbook, travel story, or animal feature alone, marrying all three subjects in a fun exploration and armchair journey that culinary fans will want to embark upon.

The Arts

Like Some Forgotten Dream
Daniel Rachel
Octopus
9781788403207 $24.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com

Like Some Forgotten Dream: What If the Beatles Hadn't Split Up? is a contrast in perspectives about what happened when the Beatles broke up, and what might have happened if they'd stayed together.

This approach offers a satisfyingly different analysis than the myriad of Beatles biographies and histories already on the market today, and comes from the winner of the Penderyn Music Book Prize.

It uses the last, lost Beatles album and new research to consider the roots of the group's breakup, projecting into the future the evidence of how they would have produced music together, had this event not happened.

Unfinished demos, hit solo songs, and B-side pieces recreate musical insights and notions of the future of the Beatles, contrasting different musical talents and personalities, reconsidering the evolution of Apple Records and its possible future with more Beatles productions, and using interviews and history to create not just conjecture, but solid insights into collaborative and music production processes.

No definitive Beatles or rock 'n roll history collection should be without Like Some Forgotten Dream.

Patrick Mehaffy
Patrick Mehaffy
SF Design, LLC/Fresco Books
University of New Mexico Press, Distributor
9781934491843 $70.00
www.unmpress.com

Patrick Mehaffy is a monograph that gathers decades of the artist's works, photographed by Wendy McEahern. It explores New Mexico artist Patrick Mehaffy's paintings, sculptures, and creations and how he represents natural and human connections and crafts different perceptions of the world.

Works presented in both black and white and color receive full-page representation. This does a fine job of capturing the three-dimensional feel of many of his works, accompanying essays that explore Mehaffy's history, training, techniques, and experiments.

Arts collections looking for contemporary monographs from artists working in a variety of mediums will want to add Patrick Mehaffy to their collections as a fine example of one multifaceted New Mexico artist's creations and links to the materials and representation of the land.

Prestel
www.presel.com

Two outstanding arts titles are recommended picks for discriminating libraries looking for special acquisitions that promise long life spans of active lending.

Carolina Amell's Extreme Like a Girl: Women in Adventure Sports (9783791387857, $55.00) may not sound like an arts recommendation, but the fine art of sports photography is profiled in a gathering recommended for arts, sports, and women's interest collections alike.

Each athlete contributes her own insights into her achievements and participation in extreme sports, an arena usually thought of as being male-dominated. Each portrait is enhanced by gripping, large-size color portraits of exercise in action.

From kiteboarding and weightlifting to snowboarding and mountain climbing, these pictures offer especially educational lessons to aspiring color photographers who would learn to capture the essence of both action and passion with the click of a shutter.

The blend of artistic, biographical, and sports insights creates broad appeal, while the captivating cover image invites library display.

Laura Perryman's The Color Bible: The Definitive Guide for Artists and Designers (9783791387895, $25.00) is an essential resource for all kinds of artists working with color. It profiles some 100 hues that accompany a variety of insights on their history, color associations, branding, and use.

Not your usual singular artistic coverage of color, Perryman includes a "then and now" history of each hue's changing perception and applications in not just the art world, but in other circles where the color was created and employed.

The notes on changing ways that artists viewed and used these colors throughout history makes for an exceptional survey that gives artists the foundation for better understanding not just how to use these colors, but how they were applied in the past.

Both books stand out from the crowd as high-quality, highly recommended acquisitions for libraries and the general reader alike.

Reviewer's Choice

Blind Man's Bluff
James Tate Hill
W.W. Norton
9780393867176 $25.95
www.wwnorton.com

One doesn't expect humor from a memoir about going blind, but author James Tate Hill was diagnosed with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy in his teens, and his memoir Blind Man's Bluff follows his increasingly challenging changes as he employs various tricks to use his peripheral vision to pretend that his eyesight wasn't as bad as it was.

Between navigating dating and ordinary life and spending fifteen years hiding his blindness from friends, colleagues, and lovers, at age thirty, Hill began to wonder about the wisdom of his ways.

Blind Man's Bluff doesn't follow the usual course of a journey through blindness, but offers many unexpected moments made especially strong by an attention to how the sighted perceive those who are blind.

The psychological self-inspection Hill employs throughout this process is astute and revealing: "Everything happens for a reason, people liked to tell you when your vision began to go. You wanted to believe them, but there's a fine line between looking for a reason and blaming yourself for going blind."

Hill's very different perspectives and experiences make Blind Man's Bluff a standout in the literature of blindness and disability memoirs.

Constance
Matthew Fitzsimmons
Thames & Mercer
9781542014267 $24.95
www.apub.com

Constance is a sci-fi thriller set in the near future, and opens with a woman who awakens in a clinic with part of her memories missing.

Her routine monthly upload of consciousness has gone awry, her original is dead, and she's a clone who is missing pieces of her life.

As she rediscovers herself and the truth about her death and rebirth, Constance recreates herself and learns about her purpose, uncovering a frightening truth that leads her to embark on a new struggle for survival.

Matthew Fitzsimmons creates a gripping story packed with unexpected twists and turns. Cemented by the powerful conundrum of a young woman who tries to probe the realities of her strange new world, Constance crosses genres to appeal to sci-fi and thriller readers alike.

These audiences will find Constance a delightful, thoroughly absorbing story that excels in the unexpected.

Cuba: An American History
Adfa Ferrer
Scribner
9781501154553 $32.00
www.simonandschuster.com

Cuba: An American History blends literature and historical review with an epic story of the country and its complex experiences, offering a five-century review that will prove essential reading for anyone who would better understand the nation's place in the modern world.

It comes from an award-winning historian who documents the successes and failures of the nation and, even more importantly, the complexity of its political relationships around the world.

The blend of social and political historical inspection is nicely done, presented with a lively touch that will make Cuba's story accessible even to those who have little prior familiarity with or interest in the nation's evolution.

From struggles for independence to revolts and changing perspectives that affected Cuba internally and externally, this in-depth coverage is highly recommended for collections strong in Cuban history and culture, and for any general-interest reader who would better understand its influences and progress.

In Pursuit of Utopia
Errol Wayne Stevens
University of Oklahoma Press
9780806169248 $39.95
www.oupress.com

In Pursuit of Utopia: Los Angeles in the Great Depression offers a narrowed focus on Depression-era events in America, and is thus able to offer a unique perspective in highlighting the radical movements that evolved during this time.

Key among them (and used as the example and focus here) is the Utopian Society; but there were other plans and campaigns that evolved in Los Angeles during these tumultuous years. This book covers the political, religious, and social programs and movements that sought to provide alternative thinking and approaches during desperate times.

The result is an astute history of social movements, radical arguments, and legal changes that emerged from the Los Angeles milieu to affect not just California, but the nation as a whole.

Of course, California collections will be the likely main buyers of this book; but it's also highly recommended for any strong in Depression-era history and social examination.

The Numinous Tarot Guide
Rashunda Tramble
Aster Books/Octopus
9781783254422 $17.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com

With so many tarot books on the market today, even new age and tarot enthusiasts might wonder at the need for yet another book on the subject. Think again, because The Numinous Tarot Guide represents quite a different approach, and offers a new way of card-reading through an interactive self-study program.

Readers are invited to choose a card first, then use it as a starting point for self-analysis and inquiry.

Unlike most tarot books, this is designed to be used with any deck because it's a technique and a revised approach, not a deck-specific analysis.

The connections between real-world struggles and experiences and the tarot deck's opportunities for realization and growth make The Numinous Tarot Guide a fine addition to any new age or tarot collection.

On Borrowed Time
Gregor Craigie
Goose Lane
9781773102061 $22.95
www.gooselane.com

On Borrowed Time: North America's Next Big Quake goes beyond most earthquake focuses on California and the West Coast to consider other areas of North America that are at risk for "the big one."

It surveys zones known to have produced mega-quakes in the past, considers scenarios in which cities and rural areas in active zones might be affected, and identifies seismic zones that all too commonly are not known by the public at large, whose homes may reside on and near documented faults.

Gregor Craigie spent ten years interviewing scientists, engineers, and emergency planners about scenarios for these quakes. He also interviewed survivors of major earthquakes.

All three perspectives blend in a scientific and social consideration of possibilities that consider at-risk human networks and lives and the latest science and research supporting discoveries about earthquakes.

No collection that lies anywhere near a fault line should be without On Borrowed Time.

Paradise
Lizzie Johnson
Crown
9780593136386 $28.00
www.crownpublishing.com

Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire may at first glance seem an obvious selection for California collections alone. It documents firsthand the lasting impact of a deadly wildfire that destroyed an entire Northern California town in 2018, and comes from a reporter fro the San Francisco Chronicle who was there as the town was destroyed.

But, given climate change and the surge of extraordinary changes that bring fires into communities which were never affected by them before, Paradise's history and experiences become all the more important for audiences not only within California, but for those residing in increasingly dry states.

From how the tragedy unfolded in a moment-by-moment coverage to notes about infrastructure neglect, political response, and social impact, this story of a new world of megafires and disasters holds impact and lessons for anyone facing the coming years of climate change. It should be in collections extending beyond California's milieu, and considered an essential historical and environmental review.

Science Be Dammed
Eric Kuhn and John Fleck
University of Arizona Press
9780816843236 $19.95
www.uapress.arizona.edu

There was a time when a book about the Colorado River's management and politics may have been limited to collections in the immediate vicinity of the river—but, no longer.

With the advent of global climate change and the rise of water crises around the world, Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River is, today more than ever, an essential history of political and decision-making forces that hold ongoing impact not just for environmental management, but for water access decisions and rights.

It identifies the fallacies and problems in the ongoing mismanagement of water in the western U.S., providing lessons about using science to support decisions, rather than ignoring its place in the management equation.

Libraries strong in either Colorado of Western history or water management issues will find Science Be Dammed essential reading.

Sky Rider
Gary B. Fogel
University of New Mexico Press
9780826362827 $24.95
www.umnpress.com

Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West is a vivid history of hot-air ballooning as seen through the biographical experiences of one of its most colorful advocates, Park Van Tassel.

Never heard of him? Most outside the ballooning world will not; yet the man's passion for gas-inflated balloons and his travels across America resulted in a series of spectator events that fostered the art of hot-air ballooning in circles that never would have experienced it, eventually leading him to tour the world with a troupe of parachutists who exhibited amazing airborne feats.

Entertainment value aside, Van Tassel's world was replete with scandals, daring, and infamy, and he succeeded in championing hot-air ballooning for a vast audience who might otherwise have never been exposed to it.

Aviation buffs should consider this lively biography an essential addition to their collections.

Watermelon Nights
Greg Sarris
University of Oklahoma Press
9780806169378 $26.95
www.oupress.com

Watermelon Nights is recommended for collections strong in Native American experience, California topics, and novels that reflect intergenerational experiences. It is a passionate story of urban Native Americans that remains one of the few to chronicle a tribe's rural-to-urban changes.

First published in 1998, Watermelon Nights tells of California tribal organizer Johnny, who struggles with his community roots, his desire to live in a bigger city, and Pomo tribal connections.

The story's special brand of cultural reflection and historical insight blends with a powerful set of characters that operate on both community and individual levels as changes sweep them along and threaten to dissolve the ties that bind them together.

Watermelon Nights belongs in any collection strong in Native American history, literature, and cultural inspection; especially California collections where Pomo history is of interest.

A Year Full of Flowers
Sarah Raven
Bloomsbury
9781526626110 $36.00
www.bloomsbury.com

A Year Full of Flowers: Gardening for All Seasons features gorgeous color flower photos by photographer Jonathan Buckley, and selects the best and longest-lasting flower varieties that deliver the biggest bang for the least effort.

Here are features of early-flowering plants, tips on picking flowers at optimum times and seasons for best results, and discussions of disease resistant varieties and organic flower-growing approaches.

Sarah Raven trained as a doctor and grew her flower habit slowly while fielding family and a busy career.

Her insights on how to best grow and maintain a relatively effort-free flower garden pairs with autobiographical reflections on her achievements to make for a lively discourse that will appeal to active flower growers and armchair enthusiasts alike.

Young Adult/Children

As Large As Life
Jonny Marx
360 Degrees/Tiger Tales
9781944530341 $24.99
www.tigertalesbooks.com

As Large As Life is beautifully illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat and captures the scale of different animals in nature, exploring some 26 habitats that hold over 250 animals.

A fold-out chart in the back of the book allows for cross-comparisons of sizes, while each region of the world (the Himalayas, the Antarctic, and Africa, among others) receives a colorful inspection of the variety of creatures that live there.

Suitable for eye-catching display, As Large As Life's gorgeous drawings allow kids to absorb animal facts and interconnected ecological information while attracting leisure readers.

Candlewick Press
www.candlewickpress.com

Three new picture books are fine, high-quality presentations that will delight kids looking for superior illustrations and stories.

Mary Lyn Ray's How to Have a Birthday (9781536207415, $17.99) provides a lovely survey of how the very young can understand a birthday's importance: "At breakfast you might be given a crown. Because your birthday is to celebrate that you are here. It's to tell you that you matter."

Simple illustrations by Cindy Derby emphasize the importance of the day and give various celebratory options for groups, families, and internally, for recognizing a birth day's value.

Anuska Allepuz's The Walloos' Big Adventure (9781536215311, $17.99) explores what transpires when the Walloo family visits a tropical island. All seems on track for a fun exploration until the land begins to move under them.

What can the Walloo family do?

An adventure with a surprise twist will delight young readers, while the drawings are fun embellishments.

Wade Bradford's There's A Dodo on the Wedding Cake (9781536208849, $16.99) tells of Mr. Snore, who returns to the Sharemore Hotel to play his violin at a fancy wedding.

As he eyes the fancy cake, troubles arise that requires Mr. Snore to step up to save the day...over and over again.

A whimsical adventure enjoys equally zany drawings by Kevin Hawkes as the story takes a number of surprising twists.

All are excellent stories that excel in the unexpected.

The Dog Walk
Sven Nordqvist
Floris Books
97811782507437 $19.95
www.florisbooks.co.uk

The Dog Walk is a wordless picture book experience that will delight young dog fans who like tales that are whimsical and pictures that are busy, colorful, and detailed.

Grandma's dog is ready to take a walk. As boy and dog traverse some odd urban wonders in the course of their walk, read-aloud parents will want to interact with the very young to point out the many delights to be discovered in these image-packed pages of adventure.

The story and its progression invite kids to hone an attention to detail and artistic surprises that precedes Where's Waldo? and similar explorations.

Jet the Cat...
Phaea Crede and Terry Runyan
Barefoot Books
9781646861675
www.barefootbooks.com

Jet the Cat...tells of a cat who is like any other cat...except that she enjoys swimming.

But, everyone knows that cats hate water!

Or, do they?

Jet proves the legends wrong and also serves to illustrate concepts of differences and preferences as young kids receive a colorful, engaging tale of a cat who is unlike any other...and who is not afraid to show off differences.

The Neighborhood Surprise
Sarah van Dongen
Tiny Owl
9781910328712 $16.99
www.tinyowl.co.uk

The Neighborhood Surprise tells of Mrs. Fig's move to a retirement home, and the going-away party that involves the entire neighborhood in the effort.

Vegan and vegetarian food must be made so everyone in the neighborhood can enjoy the celebration, and the multicultural cooking effort involves all kinds of people who share the foods of their cultures.

The Neighborhood Surprise is a winning, lovely tale that celebrates diversity in people and food choices. It will delight parents looking to teach kids about neighborhood activities and help them develop supportive attitudes about cultural differences.

Penguin
www.penguin.com/kids

Three picture books and two young adult works stand out from the crowd, and are top recommendations for collections seeking lasting lending value and parents looking for exceptional works.

Ann Hood's Jude Banks, Superhero (9780593094075, $16.99) tells of young Jude, who loved his sister Katie. Katie died suddenly, and Jude is convinced he was the one who killed her.

He must not only go on without her, fraught with the vast changes her absence brings to his world and family, but struggles with his guilt, which no other friend can understand. Until new girl Clementine, who also lost a sibling, enters his life.

Ann Hood crafts a memorable story of loss, recovery, and friendship that is compelling and involving. It will reach middle grades with a warm story of a twelve-year-old's dilemmas.

Ann Braden's Flight of the Puffin (9781984816061, $17.99) will reach advanced elementary to early middle grades with the story of Libby, who comes from a long line of bullies, and longs to be different. But, how can she change when she's always getting into trouble?

Three other kids in different milieus also face their special challenges. It seems unlikely that their concerns and worlds will intersect, given geographical distance, but a card with a message sets off a chain reaction in which each character grows and comes to revise their sense of purpose and place in their world.

The juxtaposition of these very different lives is well done and unexpected.

Three picture books provide entertainment and fun to young readers who will enjoy the powerful stories reinforced by strong visuals.

Theo Thesaurus: The Dinosaur Who Loved Big Words by Shelli R. Johannes (9780593205518, $17.99) receives zany, fun drawings by Mike Moran as it explores a word-loving dino who can't wait to share his passion with others.

What he doesn't plan on is a series of conundrums which arise because of them, and which causes misinterpretations and mishaps when his friends embrace a different way of communicating.

Maile Meloy's The Octopus Escapes (9781984812698, $17.99) receives amusing drawings by Felicita Sala, who brings to life the story of an aquarium octopus who misses his open sea home.

"The same old dinner plopped into the same still water" in his adopted home, and everything feels too similar. What's a curious octopus to do? The solution to his problem involves alleviating the boredom that comes when an intelligent species is regulated to a static environment.

Kids receive insights on how the octopus differs from other sea creatures during the course of a delightful octopus adventure.

The Giggles Are Coming! by Christopher Eliopoulos (9780593109311, $17.99) is a whimsical story of kids who just can't escape The Giggles.

Two best friends look forward to the first day of school, but when The Giggles strike, they worry that their first impression with a new teacher will go awry. How can they thwart The Giggles? Ignoring them doesn't help.

All are fine stories that deserve a place in any children's book collection.

Scholastic, Inc.
www.scholastic.com

Four young adult titles offer diverse themes and engaging stories that will attract teen leisure readers with standout reads.

Brianna Bourne's You & Me at the End of the World (9781338713636, $18.99) tells of what happens when Hannah wakes up to silence and an empty city around her.

Only Leo, a walking disaster (however attractive), remains.

Can they survive in a world with no support systems? And how does the lack of people around them change their perceptions of who they are, and their purpose in life?

A thoroughly engrossing story evolves.

Jordan Sonnenblick's The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell (9781338647235, $17.99) gives middle graders the story of Jordan, who feels that everything is going wrong this year, at school.

His teacher hates him, his asthma is getting worse, he needs to find a home for too many pet snakes, and bullies threaten him.

These and more challenges keep Jordan on his toes as he tries to develop better responses to not one, a series of life adversities.

Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne (9781338642087, $17.99) tells of eleven-year-old Josephine, who is desperate to attract her often-absent fisherman father's attention, to keep him from wanting to date women.

However, Josephine can't do enough to prevent this from happening. And her inadvertent wish complicates matters when Daddy brings home a new catch who is on to Josephine's methods of dissuading her father's romantic interests.

A fine story of adaptation and understanding evolves.

Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown v. Board of Education by Lawrence Goldstone (9781338592832, $18.99) provides middle grades into early high school with the story of how the Supreme Court ruled that separate and equal were different.

This focus on a landmark decision that continues to affect Americans in all walks of life provides a close inspection of Constitutional law that personalizes the fight and participants in a manner that young history and civil rights readers won't readily forget.

Picture book readers will find Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees create a fine, whimsical takeoff on the 'free to be me' Margo Thomas theme of decades ago, albeit for young people, in Free to Be Elephant Me (9781338734270, $18.99).

A parade of young elephants seeks to impress King Elephant Mighty, but there's one youngster who never seems to make a good impression: Num-Num.

He appears to harbor no special talent.

Or, does he?

Picture book readers will find Free to Be Elephant Me an inviting story of differences and personal abilities.

Simon and Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com

These new picture book arrivals provide young readers with fun stories that fit with the Fall season, but can be enjoyed year-round.

Thankful by Elaine Vickers (9781534477346, $17.99) is a story of gratitude that receives excellent drawings by Samantha Cotterill. It tells of a little girl who writes down the things she is thankful for, making a chain of notes about her observations.

From simple comforts to life's good points, this story was inspired by Elaine Vickers' personal family tradition of creating "thankful chains." It holds the ability to involve other families in the effort of acknowledging and representing thanks in a manner especially appropriate for the Thanksgiving season, but applicable to year-round thinking.

Halloween is upon us, and arriving just in time for that holiday is Jessie Sima's Hardly Haunted (9781534441705, $17.99), the story of a spooky old house that just wants to provide a home to her new family.

House has a problem, though. With all the creaking and spooky sounds she sports, her family might think she's haunted, not welcoming.

And, who would want to live in a haunted house?

House must find a way of reaching out with her true identity in this fun story.

The Fan Brothers create an imaginative tale for kids ages 4-8 with It Fell From the Sky (9781534457621, $17.99), a beautifully illustrated picture book about an object that fells near Spider's house and brings with it community amazement and a conundrum.

Spider claims ownership and builds a display so that all inspects can come admire it. Of course, he has to charge admission for his efforts.

But, the more he tries to control and supervise its magic, the more other insects become alienated from the opportunity to appreciate it.

Largely black and white drawings blend with color to capture the milieu of Spider's dilemma and the community's response to amazing new possibilities.

These are fine, thought-provoking stories highly recommended for a wide audience.

Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com

Three new picture books are delightful additions to any young reader's collection.

Frank Murphy and Charnaie Gordon's A Friend Like You (9781534111127, $16.99) celebrates the act of making new friends as it explores what it means to be a friend, and how different kinds of friendships evolve.

Kids receive not only definitions of friendships, but insights into what makes different kinds of friends special, whether they be temporary relationships or long-lasting associations.

Kayla Harren creates lovely drawings that celebrate diversity in the process of supporting this story's message about supportive relationships.

Susan Blackaby's Where's My Cow? (9781534111073, $16.99) enjoys whimsical drawings by Scott Brundage, whose colorful portrait of Egret, a bird afraid to leave his beloved cow, explores the idea of leaving home and returning to a special place and person.

In order for Egret to find his way back, Cow must find a way to stand out so Egret can better fit in and find her.

A fun story of creative problem-solving evolves.

Jennifer Sattler's Rock and Vole (9781534111035, $16.99) tells of a creature of habit whose routines are the same day after day...until one day, when she decides she wants to travel.

Even this endeavor, though, must be meticulously planned, down to the second.

However, travel often involves surprises. As Vole discovers a major obstacle to her goal of satisfaction, she must learn new routines and find friendship in unexpected places if she's to gain pleasure from life.

All are pleasing, involving stories.