by Sean Mendez & introduction by Ferran Adrià ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
International recipes for families interested in cooking a variety of world cuisines together.
This colorful, amply illustrated cookbook emphasizes the educational, nutritional and social benefits of cooking with children, offering 19 recipes from as many nations. The book devotes four pages to each recipe and country, along with enriching notes on food and cultural facts. The country’s flag is depicted with a map locating the country, followed by a double-page spread documenting how to create each recipe. The emphasis here is on fun, collaboration, invention and food as an engaging art rather than exact science; “tasty tips” following recipes invite children to try variations (which always include a vegetarian option). Dishes include the familiar (Mexican fajitas, kebabs from Iran) along with the more adventurous (Brazilian salmon stew, Australian Fish parcel with damper bread). Recipes feel approachable—most are cooked atop the stove, with the most high-tech gadget required being an immersion blender for creaming soup. Ingredients are laid out clearly, with equivalent temperatures and metric measurements—but not always presented in order of use. Though cooking time for meat is mentioned, the more reliable internal temperature might be preferable (“fry until cooked” could result in underdone meat). Overall, though, this cookbook offers complex, authentic international flavors without overcomplicating the process, and the result is something you’d really enjoy having for dinner. A deliciously engaging fusion of cookbook and cultural lesson. (Nonfiction. 8 & up)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-56656-866-1
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Interlink
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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by Jean Ferris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2002
Cold indeed is the heart not made warm by this bubbly fairy-tale romance. Raised by a kindly forest troll, Christian knows little of the world beyond what he can see through his telescope, but gazing upon a nearby castle, he falls head over heels for Princess Marigold. What chance has he, though, as a (supposed) commoner? When at last he nerves himself to send her a message via carrier pigeon, she answers and the courtship is on—via “p-mail” at first, then, after he lands a job as a castle servant, face to face. Setting numerous fairy-tale conventions just a bit askew, Ferris (Of Sound Mind, 2001, etc.) surrounds her two smart, immensely likable teenagers, who are obviously made for each other, with rival suitors, hyperactive dogs, surprising allies, and strong adversaries. The most notable among the last is devious, domineering Queen Olympia, intent on forcing Marigold into marriage with a penniless, but noble, cipher. The author gets her commonsensical couple to “I Do” through brisk palace intrigue, life-threatening situations, riotous feasting, and general chaos; Queen Olympia gets suitable comeuppance, and the festivities are capped by the required revelation that Christian is actually heir to the throne of neighboring Zandelphia. Fans of Gail Carson Levine’s Princess Tales will be in familiar territory here, as well as seventh heaven. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-15-216791-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
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by Ibtisam Barakat ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007
It’s the first night of the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Arab countries. Three-year-old Ibtisam, hunting frantically for a shoe, loses her family as they join the throng of anxious Palestinians fleeing Ramallah into Jordan. Desperate hours will elapse before the family is reunited. This beautifully written memoir of the author’s childhood on the Israeli-occupied West Bank unfolds against a harsh backdrop of war and cultural displacement. The family endures poverty, separations and frequent relocation. Yet life goes on, by turns surprising, funny, heartbreaking and rich with possibility. In an overcrowded Jordanian school-room housing refugees, Ibtisam discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arab alphabet, and a key unlocking the magical world of written words. Courageous and curious, but by no means always well-behaved, Ibtisam and her brothers find ways to assert their strong wills in defiance of the authorities that govern their lives. The injustices that rankle come at the hands of parents and teachers, not broader geopolitical realities. A compassionate, insightful family and cultural portrait. (map, historical note, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-374-35733-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Melanie Kroupa/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2007
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