Try this different but tasty recipe for latkes.
Can a Hanukkah latke be potato-less?
Larry is an alligator with a food truck. His customers range from mice to moose, and all are eager eaters. Larry uses his granny’s recipe but wonders if there is more to a latke than potatoes, onions, and matzo meal. Holding his basket, he visits a busy farmers market, selecting peppers, tomatillos, and pears, among other ingredients—but no potatoes. The culinary results are unsuccessful. He continues to pursue a new recipe in trial-and-error fashion using the newfound ingredients. It’s a catalog of foodie delicacies: leek, Camembert, kale, quince, chard, and more. He produces “a soggy mess” and “mushy-gushy glop.” With failure over the stove about to befall him, Larry turns back to the tried-and-true potato, returning to the farmers market on a “gator-tater quest.” At last the something-old, something-new formula achieves success. It’s a Hanukkah party for all as his very happy and hungry friends celebrate the first night of the holiday with a new twist on a traditional treat. The cartoon illustrations are bold and brash, brimming over the pages with activity. With more to say about farmers markets and cooking than Hanukkah (though a short note discusses the miracle of the oil), this title gives readers who celebrate the holiday the sort of playful, largely secular experience found in countless Christmas books.
Try this different but tasty recipe for latkes. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68115-565-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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