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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
