Keep handy for that gloomy day when a “Spaghetti Twister with a Tomato Tornado” might blow in or as an amusing how-to title...
Old and new fans of the classic tale of food delivered three times a day by the weather can tie on an apron, sharpen their culinary skills and dig in to 25 recipes inspired by the beloved book.
The Barretts team up once again to serve kid-friendly fare—to make and eat. A letter from Grandpa to Henry and Kate opens the book, and their reply brings the spiral-bound title to a close. Within, budding chefs will find some standard kids’-cookbook fare after a helpful list of “Grandpa’s Rules and Tools.” Pancakes, fried eggs, open-faced grilled-cheese sandwiches and mashed potatoes are often given clever names but are essentially basic items on the average American menu (“Noodlehead Noodles” = mac ’n’ cheese, for instance). Each spread features a cartoonish illustration of Grandpa engaged in a silly antic related to the recipe on the facing page. Each recipe clearly states the ingredients and directions—no matter how simple—so every dish seems possible to make, especially with an adult assisting. A photo of the end result is also provided to whet the appetite. “Milky Maple Soda” looks refreshing to sip while tackling the “Toasty Bread Houses,” square meatballs, “Foggy Pea Soup” or “Strawberry Tallcake.” Other than one odd warning not to “cremate” English-muffin pizzas under the broiler, the recipes are good and easy, and kids should find many sweet and savory options to tickle their taste buds.
Keep handy for that gloomy day when a “Spaghetti Twister with a Tomato Tornado” might blow in or as an amusing how-to title to help children discover the possible satisfying results that can come when following directions. (Cookbook. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4475-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.
The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.
Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-55-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A rendition more poignant than patriotic with, at least in the rhymed portions, the cadence of a lullaby.
An illustrated version of the ever popular Scottish “Skye Boat Song,” with added lyrics and historical background.
Written in the 19th century (and set to a folk melody), the verses commemorate the flight of Bonnie Prince Charlie, then in his mid-20s, from the 1746 battle of Culloden. They begin after a prose introduction that sets the scene and follows the fugitive until—disguised (according to legend) as resourceful cottager Flora MacDonald’s maidservant—he escapes in a boat to the Isle of Skye. Along with a closing note, the anonymous modern co-author also adds a near ambush by British troops to the storyline in the lyrics and tones down the martial closing lines to a milder “Rightfully king! True hearts will stay / Faithful for evermore!” There is no visible blood or explicit violence in Belli’s depictions of the battle and its aftermath, but in the clean-lined watercolor scenes he fashions evocatively rough seas and stormy skies until landfall brings a final calm. The British soldiers’ red coats and the bright tartans in which the handsome, downcast prince and other male Scots in the all-white cast are outfitted shine against the muted backgrounds.
A rendition more poignant than patriotic with, at least in the rhymed portions, the cadence of a lullaby. (map) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78250-367-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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