nonfiction picture books

[chat + giveaway] Emma Bland Smith on The Fabulous Fannie Farmer

~ jama ~ 32 Comments

Today we’re happy to welcome San Francisco author Emma Bland Smith to discuss her latest picture book, The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook (Calkins Creek, 2024). Charmingly illustrated by Susan Reagan, this engaging, well researched account of Fannie’s professional life as an author, culinary expert and teacher officially hits shelves today and will inspire you to whip up one of Fannie’s recipes. 🙂

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (initially published as The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book in 1896), Fannie’s lasting contribution of standardized level measurements is likely part and parcel of your cooking and baking regime. Yes, we have Fannie to thank every time we level off a cup of flour or sugar with a butter knife before adding it to the mixing bowl.

Fannie’s precise, comprehensive recipe instructions included scientific explanations of the chemical processes that occurred in food during cooking, taking away the guesswork and ensuring consistent results.

So who was this woman who revolutionized home cooking, making it accessible to everyone? How did her can-do spirit enable her to pursue her passion for the culinary arts — even opening her own cooking school — after being sidelined from a college education due to polio-related partial paralysis?

And how many can say that their cookbook remains in print 100+ years after it was first published, having sold more than 7 million copies to date?

I know you’ll enjoy hearing lots more from Emma. We thank her for sharing her insights and so many wonderful photos!

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[snowy review] On a Flake-Flying Day by Buffy Silverman

~ jama ~ 21 Comments

Brrrrrr! Can you feel it? Yes, the winds of change are blowing once again. Did a snowflake just tickle the tip of your nose?

With Winter Solstice coming up next week, it’s time to fluff our feathers, cozy up with a warm cuppa, and enjoy Buffy Silverman’s latest picture book, On a Flake-Flying Day: Watching Winter’s Wonders (Millbrook Press, 2023).

In this third title of her award winning series celebrating the seasons, we see how animals adapt to the cold and learn about weather conditions related to wind and water. When the world is blanketed in snow, many fascinating things are happening above and below ground.

Once again, Buffy invites readers to join her for a fun nature walk via an inventive rhyming text and gorgeous color photographs. It’s always a joy to read aloud her sprightly hyphenated noun-verb adjectives, a perfect set up for evocative pairs of short rhyming sentences powered by choice verbs:

On a feather-fluffing,
seed-stuffing,
cloud-puffing day . . . 

Weasel whitens.
Cardinal brightens.

Frost glistens.
Owl listens.

Leaves rustle.
Squirrels hustle.

Her verse brims with deliciously informative sensory detail. The weasel is an example of an animal camouflaging itself for protection, while the cardinal’s bright red does the opposite — makes the male stand out to better its chances of finding a mate. Along with glistening frost, a majestic owl listening for underground prey, rustic leaves clinging to their branches, and a pinecone-nibbling squirrel, what a fabulous feast for the eyes!

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a delicious bite of Cookie Queen by Kathleen King, Lowey Bundy Sichol, and Ramona Kaulitzki

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

How do you like your chocolate chip cookies? Soft and chewy or thin and crispy? In all my years of cookie baking, I’ve strived for thin and crispy with only moderate success. Granted, all homemade chocolate chip cookies are good when they’re warm from the oven (hello, gooey melty chocolate and buttery crumb). The true test, however, is after they’ve cooled.

All I can say is thank goodness for Tate’s Bake Shop®️. We always have a bag or two or three of their Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies in the house. In fact, we prefer them over their original Chocolate Chip. Thin and buttery with just the right crunch, they taste homemade.

I first “discovered” them after googling “Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies” about ten years ago. Tate’s was the hands down favorite, or else was included in the top five on most lists. So we tried a bag and have never looked back.

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[yummy review] Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari and Monica Mikai

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

Come Thursday, many of us will don our cozy sweaters and sit down with family and friends to feast on roast turkey with wild rice stuffing, mushroom gravy, creamy mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes or yams, green bean casserole, and soft, fluffy dinner rolls (lots of butter, please!).

As we express gratitude for our bountiful meals, we should particularly remember the people who helped bring the food to the table. Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari and Monica Mikai (Norton Young Readers, 2023) introduces us to about a dozen different types of farming, essential farm workers, and methods of planting and harvesting on commercial as well as family farms.

The book opens with a dedication page depicting a variety of colorful dishes with the words, “If you like the food on your table, THANK A FARMER.” Continuing with variations on this tagline, double page spreads feature familiar foods such as bread, milk, fruits, veggies, peanuts, rice, mushrooms, and maple syrup, in addition to one non-edible item, wool.

Gianferrari’s lyrical text is rhythmic and succinct, as dynamic and efficient as the processes described. Paired with Mikai’s warm and inviting illustrations, it’s easy for kids to connect what they eat every day with where it actually comes from — not a can, box, or supermarket shelf, but a farm, where real people work the land with their hands or specialized machinery.

First there’s breakfast, a girl eating bread while wheat is being harvested from combine to hopper, then into grain cart and storage elevator for milling and grinding into flour.

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[splashy clean review] Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine by Kate Hannigan and Sarah Green

~ jama ~ 17 Comments

“The woman of the future will have the memory of Josephine Garis Cochrane in grateful remembrance. It was she who invented the machine which has set woman free from the most slavish and disgusting task of housekeeping — dishwashing.” ~ The Daily Picayune, April 2, 1892.

First there’s a hum as the motor engages, the sound of water filling, then a swoosh as the pump starts up. After a couple of friendly knocks, my dishwasher settles into a comforting churn; sometimes a plate or two clinks with satisfaction. Ahhh!! Soon we’ll all be so clean and sparkly!

I like hearing the sudsy slosh and the jet spray during the rinse cycle. But as much as I’ve appreciated this efficient, time-saving appliance, I never really knew who invented it until I read Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine by Kate Hannigan and Sarah Green (Calkins Creek, 2023).

In lively, rhythmic prose, Hannigan relates how Chicago socialite Josephine Garis Cochrane invented the first practical and successful hand-powered dishwasher despite societal hurdles, lack of professional training and financial hardship.

It all began one night after a dinner party when, much to her dismay, Josephine discovered cracks and chips in some of the china her household staff had washed. She then tried washing the dishes herself, but hated the laborious, never-ending drudgery that robbed her of precious time she’d rather spend doing pleasant things, like playing the piano, picking flowers, frosting cakes, or scratching “the furry ears of her beloved hounds.”

Convinced “there must be a better way,” she set about designing her own dishwashing machine. This wasn’t such a far fetched idea, as her great-grandfather, John Fitch, had secured a patent for the steamboat, and her father, John Garis, was an engineer who built bridges. This innovative spirit was also characteristic of the time period (Second Industrial Revolution), when many notable inventors were at work: Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Margaret E. Knight (paper grocery bags), Thomas Edison (light bulb), Sarah E. Goode (convertible bed).

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