Gives new meaning to "What's in the fridge?"

A few weeks ago, I read a book called Dear Dragon which was about a pen pal relationship between a little boy and a dragon but they had no idea they were writing to someone of a different species. The illustrations were on point but it was the storyline that had me looking to see what else the author had written. (His name is Josh Funk by the way.) Turns out he had another book by the snazzy title of Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast (with a sequel called The Case of the Stinky Stench due out on May 2nd). This book has fantastic illustrations by Brendan Kearney which truly bring the fridge food to life. If you're reading aloud to pre-school age children, I highly encourage you to have the kids make predictions and point out their favorite (and least favorite) food items. Otherwise, this book might be a bit of a daunting read-aloud because there are quite a few challenging words (and lots of them) per each page. It follows our two main characters, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, on an epic quest to reach the last drop of syrup remaining in the syrup bottle. Lots of ridiculous rhyming, competitive taunting, and delicious food items abound. 9/10 for frolicking foodie fun.

Note: If you do decide to use this as a storytime read-aloud and/or you utilize this in a lesson I recommend you check out Josh's website which has a free downloadable activity kit to complement the book.

A/N: I'm trying to space out the picture book reviews but there might be a few that get clumped in the same week. That's good news for all of the picture book fans among us! :-)

Source: Blue Bunny Books

The end-papers give a hint to the artwork inside

I love these Brussels sprouts. [Source: Jana The Teacher]

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Start at the bottom and work your way to the top

If you've been reading the blog since the start of the new year then you'll remember my gobbling up of Lucy Knisley's books. (You can go back to these posts here, here, and here if you need a refresher or have no idea what I'm even talking about.) Well, I was finally able to get my hands on her first book, French Milk, which chronicles her 6 week stay in Paris with her mom when she turned 23. I had this book on hold for months and honestly I was a bit disappointed. However, because I know this was her first and her subsequent works were so much fun I'm inclined not to be too harsh. This book is entirely black and white which was kind of a bummer. She incorporates real photographs throughout which I actually really enjoyed.  I thought they lent a nice element when they coincided with her artistic interpretation. (She's included some of these in her other books at the very end.) While humorous at times, it lacks the zing of her subsequent books (which is one of my favorite parts). The art doesn't stand out as her best but I do think that's partly to do with the lack of color which I had come to expect of her. It's immediately clear to me how much she has grown as both an artist and a storyteller. Kudos, Lucy! Sometimes one finds that an author's later work lacks the punch and pizazz of their earlier forays but this is not the case with French Milk. I didn't find it nearly as compelling or engaging and I didn't feel a connection as I had with the other books of hers that I've read. I am very much looking forward to her newest which is all about her marriage and entitled Something New: Tales From a Makeshift Bride. If you haven't read any of Lucy's work to date then I think starting with French Milk will give you a greater appreciation for the rest of her body of work and in that vein I highly recommend it. However, if like me you started at a different point it kinda fell flat. 6/10

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Needs less drama and more food

2016 has been the year of the graphic novel for me. In the past, I had given one or two of them a shot but I guess I was making the wrong choices because I thought it was a medium that held no interest for me. Thankfully, I've been getting really great recommendations and the ones I've read thus far this year have been for the most part very enjoyable.


Today's review is about Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I picked this book up because I kept hearing how great it was especially in regards to the artwork. I have to say that I've read better graphic novels. The art alternated between beautiful and just okay. (I'm certainly not an art critic but this is how I felt about it so...) The main protagonist is a chef named Katie who was the co-creator of a restaurant named Seconds. However, at the start of the narrative we learn that Katie has stepped down as Head Chef because she's in the process of opening a new restaurant across town in a decrepit building that she's always 'had a feeling about'. (Spoiler: The new restaurant is very unimaginatively named.) She has a dream one night that there's this girl in her room who shows her a magic mushroom that if eaten in conjunction with writing down a mistake she can then go back in time and 'correct' things. (Was this the 60's?) Through a series of missteps which were pretty predictable Katie discovers that while she can go back again and again to 'fix' things she's in actuality just making things worse. (I had kinda hoped that this would be more about food to be honest (darn you, Lucy Knisley!)). To sum up, this one was right on the line for me. I'd say it was a solid 'meh'. It was a basic morality tale about wish fulfillment and the consequences of not learning from your mistakes. 5/10

PS I didn't like Katie.

The best bit of art in the book. Source: pinterest.com

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

I could never be a Cheesemonger

I like food. In point of fact, I looooove food. I'm always suspicious of people who aren't interested in branching out and trying new dishes. What kind of a person doesn't want to explore what fabulous foods might be out there that they haven't discovered? (I even keep trying bananas despite my utter loathing of the horrid things.)Therefore, it wasn't a huge leap to pick up Lucy Knisley's (yes, it's her again) book entitled Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. Lucy has lived the kind of foodie life that most of us can only dream (or read) about. Her mom was a caterer, her dad is a connoisseur of exquisite dishes, and she seems to have been surrounded by chefs of all kinds throughout her life. (I even learned there is a job entitled Cheesemonger which might be the best factoid ever.) This book wasn't all narrative though. In fact, my favorites were the added on bits: Recipes, food facts, and at the very end were actual photographs of her and her journey with food. Warning: Will make you hungry.

Please enjoy a few of my favorites:

  

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Quick review: An Age of License

I finally opened up all of my little sticky tabs so that I could mark passages from the book I just finished. This is the first book that I've tabbed since I was in college. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that this is one killer book, right? RIGHT. An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley was a curve ball that totally surprised me. Did I mention that this is a graphic novel? O_O Yes, I've once more gone into the breach and emerged triumphant. (I hope you imagined a fanfare playing while you read that.) It's about a trip she took in 2011 to Europe and the shenanigans that ensued. I enjoyed not only her drawing style but her approach to storytelling. I never felt lost among her drawings like I have in other graphic novels. Her drawing style really appealed to me. An Age of License is the story of a woman who found herself one of the remaining single women in her friend group who was at odds within herself with what she really wanted. I may have related somewhat...oh and the FOOD. She has other books out which are even more food focused so I'm definitely going to be getting my hands on those. Not only did this book make me reflect on my own life and how I approach it but it also made me want more. I can't even explain to you how excited I became when I looked up her biography and...well I don't want to give it away. ::maniacal laughter:: I think if you're into memoirs, coming-of-age stories, food biographies, and/or you're looking to try graphic novels this is a great choice. 10/10

Here are the pages that I marked:

I think I must be living in the L'Age Licence.

I TOTALLY get this.

This just amused me.

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

From tasty treats to salty tears, these are the days of my life

I've marked several recipes to try for my next party and I've learned heaps of trivia about food and famous mystery writers (and characters). For instance, did you know that you can use milk as a kind of invisible ink? (You know I'm going to have try this out now.) Fans of Agatha Christie won't be surprised to learn that the author used poison in over half of her 66 novels as the murder weapon. These were usually hidden in food or drinks such as coffee, marmalade, and even curry. Each of the recipes contains a short blurb about the author, a famous mystery character, and the food item itself. There are some really hilarious ones such as Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone's Famous Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich'. It was so funny that I'm determined I'll try it at least once. The best one, however, might be the last one of the book: Lee Child's 'Coffee, Pot of One'. Now THAT is a recipe I can get behind. ;-) Bottom line: If you're a foodie and/or a mystery enthusiast then The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook is the one for you. It goes on sale March 24th! :-)

I just received my next book in the mail as an early birthday present (my friends know me well) and I have a feeling it's going to make me cry. It's a Newbery Medal winner and if you know anything about children's literature you'll know that this means this book is cream of the crop. I'll stop teasing you...it's The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. It's the tale of a gorilla who lives in a shopping mall and what happens when he makes a new friend by the name of Ruby who is a baby elephant taken from her home. From what I can see, this promises to be a story about perspective, discovering your true identity, and the meaning of family. We'll see if I'm right in my next post!

PS How did you guys celebrate World Book Day earlier this week? I celebrated by turning my place upside down trying to find one of my favorite books. Spoiler alert: It's still MIA.

Are you hungry for books? I AM.

My initial thought about Hallowe'en Party was that it was written in a vastly different style from the other Hercule Poirot mysteries that I had read by Agatha Christie. The reason, I quickly ascertained, was that it was one of her later works (1969 to be exact) and her narrative voice (as well as the times) had vastly changed. Christie certainly knew how to adapt to stay 'en vogue' because I had to check more than once that it wasn't some weird adaptation that I was reading instead. This mystery involves a retired Poirot being called in to consult on a murder by a friend (a female mystery writer of great repute who loves apples). What struck me is how often the characters mentioned individuals with mental disorders and how they were 'let out because of overcrowding in the hospitals'. Was that a huge concern in the 60s? The story was very convoluted so that you had to constantly re-write the timeline of events as they unfolded (the past caught up to the present in a big way). I wouldn't say this was in any way one of my favorites (Murder on the Orient Express which was my first Poirot mystery remains my absolute favorite) but I did rush home to finish the last 10 pages...

Up next is something completely different. I'm going to be reviewing The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. This is exactly what it sounds like: recipes by several American mystery writers and edited by Kate White. My plan is to read through the scattered excerpts and try out some of the recipes to let you know how they go. If you have another idea of how I could review it then do let me know! XD