1. Hey, hey, hey, it’s May! Breathe in that fresh air. Revel in the flowers and make like a butterfly. Or perhaps you’re up for a lovely picnic?
UK artist Jenny Miriam’s charming digital illustrations celebrate the joys of nature, the sweet adorableness of small animals, and the fun of working and playing together.
Now based in Bristol, Jenny grew up in “the mysterious and magical county of Cornwall,” where she found joy and inspiration in the natural world, from the strange sea life in rock pools to the beautiful wildflowers that grew from seeds carried across the Mediterranean.
After earning a BA in Graphic & Packaging Design and an MA in Multimedia, Jenny worked as a digital and print designer for 18 years. She was always most at home with illustrative work, and today enjoys creating with painty textures and Procreate on her iPad.
‘Tis time t’ swash yer buckles, hoist the Jolly Roger and twirl yer tricornes. We’re sailin’ the high seas in pursuit of PIE!
Arrrrrrrrr yer ready? 🙂
As someone who’s devoted her life to “the quest for pie,” I can safely say that Pie-Rats! by Lisa Frenkel Riddiough and David Mottram (Viking, 2024) is prime booty. Served up with heaping helpings of gastronomic gusto, this upper crust yarrrrn about a motley crew of ravenous rodents will have dessert-loving landlubbers begging for more.
Pie-rats sail the starry night, seeking treasures baked just right.
Pie-rats don't want gold doubloons -- their bounty comes on forks and spoons.
Aye, rats after me own heart, they arrrrr. Could there be a nobler mission? Of course not. From the poop deck, hear them cry:
PIE, PIE, PIE, PIE!
So intense is their hunger for pie, they see different flavors in the clouds — “Pumpkin, apple, that one’s cherry./Plum, pecan, a slice of berry.”
What’s more, rain, gusting winds and choppy seas do not deter them in the least – what’s a “little squall” when it comes to PIE, PIE, PIE, PIE!? Oh, now it’s a typhoon? Bring it on, you lily-livered scurvy dog!
AVAST! TYPHOON! Rock to and fro. Pie-rats roll like pastry dough.
Splashing, crashing, skitter, scream! Holding on for Boston cream.
Drenched and dripping, ears to flank. Feeling like they walked the plank.
From the ratlines, hear them cry: PIE, PIE, PIE, PIE.
Hungry? May I interest you in a warm bowl of Stewed Cow’s Intestines, a very smelly Fermented Bird, or even better, a crunchy Fried Tarantula?
Chances are good you’ve yet to eat any of these rare delicacies. Well, what are you waiting for?
Here’s your chance to get a little taste: in Disgustingly Delicious: The Surprising, Weird and Wonderful Food of the World (Orange Mosquito, 2023), Soledad Romero Mariño and Montse Galbany serve up a tantalizing platter of 19 international dishes that’ll make your mouth water and your stomach growl (well, maybe) . . .
Our guide for this culinary adventure is backpack-toting Anna, who at the outset shares a quote from Andreas Ahrens, Director of the Disgusting Food Museum in Sweden:
Disgust is always subjective. It depends on where you were brought up. It is as if we are brainwashed from a young age about what is disgusting and what is not.
So true — it’s important to keep in mind that there are people out there who consider something we love to eat disgusting too!
From Frog Shakes in Peru to Giant Tuna Eyeballs in Japan, we learn how these foods are sourced and prepared, along with facts about historical origin and cultural relevance. Dishes span five continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Today we’re featuring a brand new Lee Bennett Hopkins poetry anthology on the eve of what would have been his 86th birthday. With an official pub date of April 16, it’s great to have one of Lee’s last edited books to help us celebrate National Poetry Month.
Back in 2015, when I asked him to be a HotTEA of Children’s Poetry for a short series I was running, this is what he said:
“You literally have me in stitches knowing I might be a HotTEA. Of course I will get a photo to you as soon as.
I’ll have Charles take a photo of something very special with me and tea, a drink I adore…especially hot tea!”
He then sent a photo, asking, “Is this HotTEA enough? If not, I’ll send another.” Plenty hot, but he ended up sending another anyway. Both were so hot I needed oven mitts to handle them. 😀
Though Lee liked various teas, a particular favorite was Twinings of London Ceylon Orange Pekoe. He also wanted to make sure I noticed the purple flowers on his teacup.
Lee is deeply missed and this new book feels like a birthday gift from him to all of us.
With fourteen poems selected by Lee, lovingly illustrated by New Hampshire artist Lita Judge, Bless Our Pets: Poems of Gratitude for Our Animal Friends (Eerdmans BFYR, 2024) is a book to hug and hold close.
Poets include:
• Ann Whitford Paul • Rebecca Kai Dotlich • Linda Trott Dickman • Eric Ode • Ralph Fletcher • Sarah Grace Tuttle • Kristine O’Connell George • Darren Sardelli • B.J. Lee • Charles Ghigna • Lois Lowry • Prince Redcloud • Joan Bransfield Graham • Lee Bennett Hopkins
We read about thirteen different furry, feathered, and scaled animals, from puppies to parakeets, goldfish to gerbils. Mostly written in the first person addressing the pets themselves, the poems are a mix of free verse and rhymers. All express the singular love of cherished pets in tender, gentle, intimate terms, citing the endearing traits and antics that make them special.
If there’s one thing I simply can’t resist, it’s a new book about the Brontës. As a longtime fan, I’m endlessly fascinated by them and always eager to learn more.
In The Little Books of the Little Brontës (Tundra, 2023),Sara O’Leary and Briony May Smith show how the love of storytelling and the power of books sustained young Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Anne after they prematurely lost their mother and two older sisters to illness.
As the story opens, we see Charlotte crafting a small handmade book for her youngest sister Anne. Illustrated with tiny watercolors, the happy-ending tale features Anne as an only child who travels to marvelous places with her rich parents. Real life, however, is quite different.
Living with their father, aunt, and housekeeper Tabatha at the edge of the wild moors, the Brontë children cope with sadness and grief by clinging to each other and creating “a world unto themselves.” Their days are marked by morning lessons and afternoon outdoor wanderings, as their love of stories permeates almost everything they do.
Voracious readers, they devour fiction, poetry, history, geography, fables, the Bible and even the dictionary. “They make up poems as they walk the moors,” invent characters as they work in the kitchen, act out plays at night in bed.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 