Friday, May 29, 2020

Last Bites!

Thank you for everyone who participated in the school library Cookbook Challenge and our remote learning focused on reading and eating this month!  I loved all the pictures you sent me...recipes you made, menus you designed, cooking in action!  Here are a few final bites for our foodie book lovers:


Bring Me Some Apples, I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis by Robbin Gourle, a wonderful, homey biography of a preeminent farm-to-table chef that includes five recipes and a healthy sprinkling of foodie folk rhymes and wisdom.  Read it here!  And by the same author, check out First Garden,  the fascinating history of the White House kitchen garden established by Michelle Obama to promote healthy eating and the history of other gardens on the grounds. Read it here!


Dumpling Dreams:  How Joyce Chen Brought the Dumpling from Beijing to Cambridge by Carrie Clickard and illustrated by Katy Wu will be available through the Chicago Public Library when they reopen in the next couple of weeks, along with Paul Yee and Judy Chan's Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts illustrated by Shaoli Wang, a terrific combination of storytelling and recipes!  (P.S., when you visit the public library, please don't forget to wear your mask!  Keep you and your public librarians safe.)




Ooo la la, here we have Bon Appetit!  The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland., a picture book biography of the groundbreaking French television chef who inspired so many home cooks.  Read it here!

Julia Child makes me think of another important chef written about in Ann Arnold's The Adventurous Chef:  Alexis Soyer, the inventive head chef in 1800's London who pretty much designed the modern kitchen. This title is hard to find in ebook form but I wanted at least to share this fascinating double-paged illustration from the book!


And no self-respecting Chicagoan should be unschooled in the history of the hot dog, described in Hot Diggity Dog!  The History of the Hot Dog By Adrienne Silver.  Read it here!


This title doesn't have quite enough for MY taste specifically about the Chicago-style hot dog, the most important and delicious hot dog in the world, but, as we learned in library, sometimes more research and more sources are needed than one single book, and sometimes your librarian has bias.


awesomehotdogs.com, Anatomy of a Hot Dog Poster by Rich Anderseon

And let's finish up with a fictional picture book classic, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Ron and Judi Barrett.  Read it here!  There's also a matching cookbook, not available on free ebook but it will be waiting for you in the school library whenever we return.  Looking forward to checking it out to you!



Hope these whet your appetite for more research, taste tests and more and more and MORE reading! History, biography, cookbooks, picture books, how-to...there's a book on the menu for everyone. Go to the library (or ebook collections) and fill your plate!

Thursday, May 28, 2020

The Ickabog is Here!


Exciting news for fans of J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series...that is, exciting news for most Stone Bookworms!  Rowling is releasing a brand new story, The Ickabog, online, for FREE, chapter by chapter, day by day!  Visit here to catch up (scroll down on the linked page for earlier chapters).

Aspiring young illustrators can even enter the drawing competition to design pictures for the text!

Hurry hurry, get under those covers with your screen of choice, this is perfect reading for a dark and stormy night!

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Bubble, Bubble, Pasta Pot!

Kindergarten is exploring the work of the mighty author/illustrator Tomie de Paola, who wrote so many wonderful books but is best remembered for Strega Nona, the greatest spaghetti story ever told.

Did you notice the lovely silver Caldecott Medal for illustration?

For a special treat, enjoy this Strega Nona puppet show, with an appearance by Tomie dePaola himself!


Now, let's visit a real pasta factory!  Look at the cool machines!


Grown-ups and big kids, too, you may be interested in visiting the inside of Tomie de Paola's house.  Some of the rooms look like the illustrator might have drawn them!  It's so interesting how art informs all aspect of an artist's life!

Buona lettera e buon appetito, Stone bookworms!

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Student Showcase!

Poetry!  Puppetry!  Cooking!  Students have been working very hard...and very creatively...on library challenges!  Here is just a *small* sampling:

























Thanks to everyone who has been participating in our library challenges, whether pictured here or not.  Trying new things, expressing yourself, using your imagination, good humor, playing with language, finding and creating story everywhere, sharing with friends...that's all at the heart of library and the heart of learning!  So, so very proud of you, my brave, inventive and wonderful students!

Friday, May 22, 2020

Kitchen History!

Who invented ice cream?  Why are pizzas sometimes round, sometimes square?  Did the fortune cookie really come from China?  Who thought up the popsicle?  Who is the "sandwich" named after?  Where was the first hot dogs served?  Our favorite foods have a history of their own...and creative inventors.


Ever wonder how the potato chip was invented?
Read it here!


Gingerbread was a fighting good treat during the American Revolution!
Read about it here!


Ever wonder why the pretzel has its unique shape?  Let's go to Italy and find out.
Here, this book is hard to find.  Let me read it to you!


Who knew pretzels were over 2000 years old? There is a recipe at the back of this book for pretzels.  Not so easy, but delicious!  

What are some of your favorite foods?  See if you can find their backstory 
Happy reading...and eating!

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Jog-in-Place Event Today!


Stone Students, please join me and my Resource Team friends this afternoon for our Jog-In-Place event!
Choose your favorite activities from a menu of fun!
See you soon...

***

Thanks to everyone who attended!  What a turn-out!!!
You warmed Grabby's carrot-shaped heart with all his new puppet friends,
and I hope those who attended the cooking demonstration had an EGG-cellent time and learned some easy recipes you can replicate.
Please email me (and Grabby) pictures of you and your puppet
or you and your kitchen adventures!
It was a pleasure and delight to see your smiling faces! xoxo

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Story Time! Leila in Saffron

Assalamualaikum!  
Today's story is realistic fiction about a little girl who is a good cook, but needs to learn to love herself as much as her family loves her.   
Such sumptuous illustrations!  



I hope that when you look in a mirror, 
you see all the wonderful things that I see when I look at you.


Saffron is a very special and expensive spice, fragrant and delicate.  If you are ever lucky enough to happen to come across some, here's an easy recipe for saffron rice.  This particular recipe is actually from the Jewish tradition. You could also try this East Asian saffron chicken curry recipe, which uses lots of wonderful spices. Just like the cilantro mentioned in the story, saffron is used in countries and cuisines all over the world!  (I know some of my friends are fasting this week, but the recipes will be waiting for you after Ramadan.)

If you are interested in the Arabic language used in the books on Laila's shelves, check this out:
Mahmoud Tamman has turned Arabic lettering into the animals they spell.  How beautiful!


Ramadan Mubarak to those who celebrate!  
Let us always celebrate and embrace all cultures and people through books!

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Cookbook Confidential

Artwork by Adelina Lirius

I have a reading secret!  As you know (because I've told you), one of my favorite sections in the library is the nonfiction section.  I love the history, the biographies, the nature guides, the fairy tales, the drawing books...but there is one special nonfiction guilty reading pleasure I have that isn't on any shelf...

MENUS!

I love, love, LOVE looking at menus!  One of my greatest delights is to walk down the street in a new city and read all the menus I come across (they are usually posted in the restaurant windows)!  When I can't travel, I go online and research restaurants and imagine what I would order!  A good menu is fun to read.  It is well organized, has appetizing little lilts of language and descriptive prowess.  And when I can't read a menu, I love to read...

COOKBOOKS!

I didn't really know how to cook until I was in my twenties and someone explained to me that cooking is really a reading skill.  I have found it's true:  if you can read carefully and follow directions, you can cook!  Appreciate that writing cookbooks well takes a special skill, too:  you have to be very clear and detail-oriented and put things in a sensible order.

Old recipes in families are sometimes written down in handwriting from grandparents and are very beloved, like the people who wrote them.  Even though book care is important, you can tell when a recipe or cookbook is good because of the oil stains, dried frosting and gravy drips that come from being used often in a lively kitchen!  I bet someone in your family has a cooking specialty or a recipe that is so delicious that it is made again and again!

Here are a few of the books on my kitchen table when I eat breakfast:


La Bible de Sauces by Jerome Ferrer.  The title, in French, means "sauce bible."  I got this book in the city of Montreal in Canada and when I saw it, I was so excited I hopped up and down, because it is all in French and very hard to find in the United States.  It has over 1,000 recipes in it!  In the unlikely event I ever retire, I will make as many sauces as I can.  Meanwhile, sometimes I look at it to brush up on my French.


Speaking of French, I enjoy my big, honking copy of La Cuisine de France by Mapie, The Countess de Toulouse-Lautrec. That means "French kitchen." I read a lot of fancy French cookbooks and menus even though I mostly eat Mexican and Asian food, isn't that funny?  I got this one at a used book sale.  It's from the 1960's and has recipes that are unusual to me, like fish with bananas and roast Argentinian rabbit (which Grabby Bunny does not like at all).  I don't usually cook from this book because so many of the recipes are so ambitious, but I do like to read it and think about how cooking and eating change with the times.  Besides, wouldn't it be fun to be a count or a countess, like the author?  You can call yourself that, nobody will really know otherwise these days.


Leave Me Alone with the Recipes:  The Life, Art and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles edited by Sarah Rich and friends is a mix of a cookbook and the life story of a woman who not only liked to cook but liked to draw pictures of food!  If you have ever been lucky enough to go to a farmer's market, maybe you noticed that food can be very beautiful.  Have you ever tried to draw a fruit or vegetable or a loaf of bread like Cipe did?  Food sits still, so it makes a very good model.


Did you know there are lots of good cookbooks just for kids?  They usually have really clear instructions and not too many ingredients.  I'm sure you could be a better cook than I was at your age. Just make sure you that you have an adult's permission to work in the kitchen, learn with an adult nearby and please be extra careful around stoves and knives (which aren't too dangerous once you learn to use them, but they are part of why you need a grown-up's help at first). Then have a look at these:


Pretend Soup by Molly Katzen.  Read the E-book here.  The author ran a famous vegetarian restaurant called The Moosewood.  If you have never ever ever used a cookbook before, this is a great place to start.  Anyone can cook using this book, even kids in kindergarten, because it has clear pictures for every step. You barely need to know how to read! If you like it, she wrote two more:  Honest Pretzels and Salad People.  

Another good place to start to learn to cook is by using the books by Deanna F. Cook (isn't that a great name for a cook book author?),  Cooking Class and Baking Class.  Her directions are so clear and there are photographs to help guide you.  It's like going to a fancy cooking class in a book!  

 

Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls is old-fashioned, but you know I like things that are oldies but goodies.  There is a sensible mix of recipes, from basic sandwiches to imaginative celebrations, and the cakes inside will make you want to throw a party!  There are lots of very clear step-by-step illustrations.  You can impress and delight your family with what you learn in this book.


Maybe you have noticed in your remote learning adventure that when you really dive into something you are really interested in and go deep, all the subjects are connected.  Cooking is tied to history, travel, culture and adventure, math (for measuring) and science (cooking and baking are chemistry in action!) and our relationships with animals and everything that grows.  In the coming week, I will share with you more books about food and the people who prepare it.

Meanwhile, please consider taking the school library Cookbook Challenge, or share a photo of yourself with your favorite cookbook or recipe!  And remember, reading is all around us, not just in chapter books.

Happy reading and eating!