One part fiction, one part history lesson, this likable story is an amusing introduction to one slice of early American life.
The true history of Amelia Simmons, the author of America’s first cookbook, has been lost. Enter this whimsical, fictionalized account of what could’ve been, delectable cakes included!
After Amelia’s parents die in the first two sentences, the mob-capped white girl is taken in by Mrs. Bean to help with chores and watch her six rambunctious sons, all also white. Amelia cleans clothes, scrubs pots, picks apples, and that’s only half of it! What she doesn’t already know how to do, she learns. Mrs. Bean is ever so grateful. “You’ve brightened our lives like a star on the flag.” In addition to her chores, Amelia wants “to learn good, plain American cookery and [to] share recipes with my fellow citizens.” Soon, Amelia is inventing delicious new recipes using American ingredients and becomes the talk of the town, eventually baking the titular (enormous!) cake in honor of the newly elected president, George Washington. The tale presents a distinctly rosy vision of life as an orphaned “bound girl” in late-18th-century America. Too good to be true? Perhaps. But Hopkinson’s lively text—rife with allegorical Americana—and Potter’s charming watercolor-and-ink illustrations team up to tell an entertaining story. Readers will delight in spotting every single rosy-cheeked Bean boy on the page, all up to no good!
One part fiction, one part history lesson, this likable story is an amusing introduction to one slice of early American life. (author’s note, recipe) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-39017-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace.
A slug longs for a hug and finds it unexpectedly.
Doug the slug would really like a hug and plods on, seeking affection. But a caterpillar, bug, spider, and worm want no part of hugging a slug. They are just not feeling it (might they feel sluggish?), voicing their disdain in no uncertain terms with expressions like, “Grimy, slippy!” and “Squelchy, slimy!” What’s a slug to do? Undeterred, Doug keeps trying. He meets Gail, a snail with crimson lipstick and hip, red glasses; she happens to be as grimy and squelchy as he is, so he figures she is the hugger of his dreams. The two embark upon a madcap romantic courtship. Alas, Gail also draws the (slimy) line at hugging Doug. Finally, mournful Doug meets the best hugger and the true love of his life, proving there’s someone for everyone. This charmer will have readers rooting for Doug (and perhaps even wanting to hug him). Expressed in simple, jaunty verses that read and scan smoothly, the brief tale revolves around words that mainly rhyme with Doug and slug. Given that the story stretches vocabulary so well with regard to rhyming words, children can be challenged after a read-aloud session to offer up words that rhyme with slug and snail. The colorful and humorous illustrations are lively and cheerful; googly-eyed Doug is, like the other characters, entertaining and expressive. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66590-046-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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