Shea, Bob.  Dinosaur vs. the Potty.  Disney/Hyperion.  2010.

Using the same formula he created so successfully in “Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (Hyperion, 2008) Shea has turned the subject of potty training into an amusing story. Children will giggle as Dinosaur declares victory over several liquid opponents: lemonade, a sprinkler, a three juice box lunch and roars aloud but then a victory dance turns into an all out dash for the bathroom, and the potty wins at the end when Dinosaur just makes it in time. Shea’s mixed media illustrations are colorful and humorous depictions of this delightful story.

Elya, Susan Middleton.  Rubia and the Three Osos. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  Disney/Hyperion Books.  2010.

The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been turned into a multicultural story with the addition of some Spanish words, all understandable in the context of the familiar story; although, there is also a glossary at the end. Goldilocks is named Rubia in this cute version, the bears go for a slimming walk before eating their soup, and Rubia makes up for her mistakes and becomes good friends with the three bears by the end of the story. The mixed media illustrations are colorful and filled with humorous details. This is a star performance.

List of books our library system owns that include a recipe

Picture Books with recipes included.

Beil                  A Cake All for Me

Bertrand          The Empanadas that Abuela Made

Castaldo          Pizza for the Queen

Cheng              Lemon Sisters (lemon ice from snow)

Cooper            Pumpkin Soup

Cooper           Dog Biscuit (human treats)

Devlin             Cranberry Birthday (strawberry cake)

Devlin             Cranberry Easter (cranberry cobbler)

Devlin             Cranberry Summer (punch)

Devlin             Cranberry Thanksgiving (cranberry bread)

Dooley           Everybody Bakes Bread

Dooley           Everybody Cooks Rice

Ehlert              Pie in the Sky (cherry pie)

Elya                 Eight Animals Bake a Cake (pineapple upside-down cake)

Falwell             Mystery Vine (pumpkin apple bread)

Frasier             A Birthday Cake is no Ordinary Cake

Geeslin            How Nanita Learned to Make Flan

Gibbons           The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree

Gourley           Bring me some apples and I’ll make you a pie

Hall                 The Apple Pie Tree

Hippely           A Song for Lena (apple strudel)

Iwai                 Soup Day

Kaplan             Monsters Eat Winy Children (cucumber sandwiches)

Kleven             Sun Bread

Krudwig          Cucumber Soup

Langston         Remember, Grandma (Mile High Apple Pie)

Lazo Gilmore  Cora cooks pancit

Lewis              No More Cookies (chocolate-covered bananas)

Lin                   The Ugly Vegetables (Chinese Vegetable soup)

Lipson             Applesauce Season

Mitchell           The Rainforest Grew All Around

Peck                The Giant Carrot (carrot pudding)

Pierce              Blackberry Banquet (blackberry smoothie)

Posada             Dandelions: Stars in the grass

Priceman         How to make an apple pie and see the world

Pushker           Toby Belfer and the High Holy Days (honey  cake)

Rattigan          Dumpling Soup

Rouss              Sammy Spider’s First Simchat Torah (candied apples)

Rylant             The Cookie-Store Cat

Segal               Carrot Soup

Shoulders        Goodnight Baby Bear (honey oatmeal cookies)

Shulman          The Moon Might be Milk

Van Hecke      An Apple Pie for Dinner

Wellington      Crepes by Suzette

Wellington      Pizza at Sally’s

Wheeler           Ugly Pie (Apple/Raisin Pie)

Wilson             Whopper Cake (chocolate cake)

Wing               Jalapeno Bagels

Yacowitz         Pumpkin Fiesta  (pumpkin soup)

Zalken             Papa’s Latkes

Sis, Peter. Madlenka Soccer Star. Farrar Straus Giroux. 2010.



Humor abounds in this sweet story about a little girl who loves to play soccer. She kicks her ball around her neighborhood, getting skillfully and playfully past a mailbox, a dog, a parking meter and a garbage can: Sis amusingly presents them as characters that interact with her as she guides her ball around them. Then she ends up playing a game with a bunch of cats, dressed in soccer outfits; the soccer net is created from a tree. She scores a fantastic goal and the “crowd” cheers. Finally, she meets up with her friend Cleopatra and they start playing a game. Soon a neighborhood of children is playing soccer on a grassy lot between the houses. Sis presents a dramatic backdrop of blue houses, and in front of them, the characters and actions take place in bright colors. Delightful!

A poem from Ogden Nash

A Caution to Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

I just finished reading Judith Rock's well written historical mystery called, "The Rhetoric of Death". The setting  and main character are well developed: the mystery takes place in 17th century Paris, and the main character is a Jesuit who sets about trying to figure out who has murdered a young student at the school.

The sun keeps peeking out between black clouds and threatened rain. Our passive solar house heats up, then cools down with the sun's appearance and disappearance. My husband is meditating as I sit here watching a red headed woodpecker eat from our big bird feeder. What a beautiful bird. Earlier, the chestnut backed chickadees were out in a group eating from our bird feeders.