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E = eat some treats! SWEET & SALTY: King Arthur Baking Company’s Cookbook for Young Bakers, by Battilana and Boytsova (nonfiction) #A2Z

Apr6
book title Sweet & Salty: King Arthur Baking Company's Cookbook for Young Bakers overlaid on half-circle of chocolate cake with a person's hand adding colored sprinkles and half-circle of small cheese crackers being picked up by another person.

Pink Lemonade Cake,
Banana Split French Toast,
English Muffin Bread!

Treats that are sweet and treats that are savory are the focus of this yummy beginner’s cookbook filled with photos, illustrations, and explanations of ingredients, tools, and baking techniques.

Start with lessons for baking success, like lining a pan with parchment paper and softening butter (without melting it!), then choose a recipe. Each recipe is marked Easy, Medium, or Project so you know how much skill and completion time it requires.

Bake up a Super-Simple Strawberry Cake, then move on to Brownie Cookie Cups or skip the oven to make a Creamsicle Dreamsicle Ice Cream Cake or Super-Size Peanut-Butter Cup Tart.

Feed a bunch of folks with a big, big Party Pancake or Sesame-Seedy Crackers or Crunchy Breadsticks.

When you learn to make One-Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes and Super-Fudge Brownies, you’ll never reach for a boxed mix again!

Whether you want to help a young person to enjoy the art of baking or are a novice baker yourself, this cookbook from the trusted bakers at King Arthur deserves a place on your kitchen bookshelf.

Loaded Baked Potato Waffles, anyone?
**kmm

Book info: Sweet & Salty: King Arthur Baking Company’s Cookbook for Young Bakers, by Jessica Battilana with Yekaterina Boytsova; photographs by Rick Holbrook; illustrations by Jordan Sondler. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. [author info https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/author/jessica-battilana] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Sweet-Salty!/King-Arthur-Baking-Company/9781665930666] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

A is for AROUND THE WORLD ON 80 HORSES, by Jill Newton (nonfiction) #A2ZA

Apr1
Book cover of Around the World on 80 Horses, by Jill Newton. Shows an English jumping horse with rider, black stallion, pair of Clydesdale draft horses in harness, barrel-racing horse with rider, pack horse , and prancing palomino horse, surrounding title with globe in background.

Clydesdale and Kabardian,
Shetland and Ferghana,
Appaloosa and Lipizzaner and Paso Fino – so many amazing horses!

Gallop across the globe as horses are introduced by the geographic region where they developed the particular characteristics that make each horse breed unique.

Trot into the world of horses and humans at work and in sport together through history, meeting famous real-life horses and those of legend.

Learn more about horses from nose to tail, how they evolved different sizes, colors, and temperaments, and meet their interesting relatives.

The most ardent horse fancier will find much new information in this book, where the author/illustrator challenges readers to find all 80 living breeds of horses in its pages, including those that roam free to this day.

Download the free activity pack and printable Horse Bingo game at https://childsplaybooks.myshopify.com/products/9781786288080 .

What’s your favorite fact about horses?
**kmm

Book info: Around the World on 80 Horses / Jill Newton. Child’s Play, Inc., 2024. [publisher site https://childsplaybooks.myshopify.com/products/9781786288080] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher via Publisher Spotlight.

FISH FARTS and Other Amazing Ways Animals Adapt, by Joanne Settel and Natasha Donovan (kids’ Nonfiction)

Jun4
Book cover of Fish Farts and Other Amazing Ways Animals Adapt, by Joanne Settel; illustrated by Natasha Donovan. A large shiny fish swims between the title words, with bubbles trailing behind it.

Animals change over time to cope with their environment, to survive, to thrive.

Meet dozens of fascinating animals in these adaptation categories: curious communications, all-purpose poop, escaping the enemy, super strange insides, and creepy connections.

Hide and stink! Young Komodo dragons survive by rolling in pig poop so they aren’t eaten by huge adult Komodos who smell the air with their tongues as they hunt.

Escape! Green iguanas and other lizards can let their tail snap off when grabbed by a predator, then grow a new tail later.

Move along! Hummingbird flower mites hitch a ride to new nectar sources by jumping onto a hummingbird’s long beak at one flower, hiding out in its nostril, then leaping off when they sense the correct type of flower to find a new mate and avoid enemies.

Elephantnose fish use electricity to navigate through night waters in Africa and communicate with each other, one of 400 species of electric fish who’ve adapted to cloudy or muddy freshwater.

However, elephants communicate and are alerted to danger by sensing ground vibrations through their toes! Only in recent decades have scientists registered these sounds with frequencies too low for humans to hear.

Cooking the Enemy, Whale Poop for Lunch, Ant Shampoo! The chapter titles alone make it worth your while to pick up this book from your local library (https://search.worldcat.org/libraries) or favorite independent bookstore (https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder).

This accurately and artistically illustrated 42 page book is better for browsing than for research since it has no bibliography or index. Words in color within the information-packed text point to its glossary at the end.

What’s your favorite unusual animal fact?
**kmm

Book info: Fish Farts and Other Amazing Ways Animals Adapt / Joanne Settel; illustrated by Natasha Donovan. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. [author site https://www.joannesettel.com/] [illustrator site https://www.natashadonovan.com/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fish-Farts/Joanne-Settel/9781665918831] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Large, small – meet them all! ATLAS OF DOGS, by Dobiasova, Sekaninova, Sedlackova, and Kralik (MG Nonfiction)

Jun3
Book cover of Atlas of Dogs, by Ester Dobiasova, Jana Sedlackova, Stepanka Sekaninova; Illustrated by Marcel Kralik. As 3 happy children watch, 6 dogs run an agility course counter-clockwise around the title, including a Doberman pinscher, a Nordic hunting dog, a cattle dog, a Chow Chow, an Airedale terrier, and a Norwegian Dunker hound.

Samoyed, chow chow, English bulldog!
Schipperke? Munsterlander? Blue Gascony basset?

In this large illustrated atlas, dogs themselves tell us about their many different breeds: sighthounds; scenthounds; pointers and setters; terriers; sheepdogs and cattle dogs; retrievers, flushing dogs, and water dogs; spitz and primitive dogs; dachshunds; pinschers, schnauzers, molosser breeds, and Swiss mountain dogs; and companion dogs.

You’ll meet dogs whose breeds you know well – beagle, German shepherd, Great Dane – and many that you may never have encountered – komondor, Prague ratter, stabyhoun, vizsla.

Several breeds popular as pets, like spitz, dachshunds, and collies, have a scorecard of intelligence, obedience, activity level, guarding skill, barking level, best family type to live with, and ideal home so you can make a good fit between dog and pet owner – with shelter dogs named as always the best first choice.

Throughout the book are issues of “Dogs’ Post Daily” news highlighting outstanding dogs through history, like loyal Hachiko in Japan, the puppy Honey who ran for help when her master’s car rolled into a deep ravine, Greyfriars Bobby the night watchman, and Barry the St. Bernard mountain rescuer of the Alps.

Be sure to find the dog to human years (no, not 1 to 7) conversion chart, as well as sections on record-holding dogs, dog speech, and how to take care of dogs.

A wonderfully illustrated informational book from Albatros in the Czech Republic, who brought us the equally delightful Atlas of Cats (recommended here: https://booksyalove.com/?p=14643).

What’s your favorite breed of dog?
**kmm

Book info: Atlas of Dogs / Ester Dobiasova, Stepanka Sekaninova, Jana Sedlackova; illustrated by Marcel Kralik. Albatros, 2021. [Stepanka’s page https://www.albatrosmedia.eu/writer/stepanka-sekaninova/] [publisher site https://www.albatrosmedia.eu/book/atlas-of-dogs/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

She was SWINGING INTO HISTORY! Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball’s First Woman Player, by Karen L. Swanson & Laura Freeman (nonfiction picturebook)

May28
Book cover of Swinging Into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball's First Woman Player, by Karen L. Swanson; illustrated by Laura Freeman. Against backdrop of a large baseball among scattered stars, a Black woman wearing a Clowns team baseball uniform reaches up to catch a baseball in mitt on her left hand.

Oh, how she loves baseball!
But her parents keep saying no…
how will she make it to the Major Leagues?

Tomboy longed to play baseball, but her parents tried to keep the tween busy at their Black hair salon instead. Thankfully, their parish priest convinced them to let her play on the church team in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Persistence got her into a summer baseball camp into where good coaching polished her skills. An excellent fielder, accurate thrower, and astounding batter, Tomboy began trying out for semi-pro teams at 15!

Moving to California, changing her name to Toni, and playing several years in front of scouts for pro teams, she was finally signed to the New Orleans Creoles of the Negro minor leagues.

But playing in the 1950s Jim Crow southern states was doubly hard for Toni, always forced to enter stadiums through the “colored” door and often harassed for being a woman in a man’s game.

Finally, she got called-up to the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League – the first woman to play for any Major League Baseball team!

“Worked hard for my dream, gave up a lot, but my dream came true: playing baseball with the big boys,” Toni said – big boys like Satchel Paige and Willie Mays.

Toni lived to see the her name listed among the 75 Negro Leagues players honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, where a baseball field is dedicated to her memory.

Includes a timeline of the Negro Leagues, civil rights history, and Toni’s career, a bibliography, and extensive author’s notes about the racism and gender discrimination that Toni endured while playing ball.

Which women athletes are you watching today?
**kmm

Book info: Swinging Into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball’s First Woman Player / Karen L. Swanson; illustrated by Laura Freeman. Calkins Creek, 2024. [author site https://www.karenlswanson.com/] [illustrator site https://www.lfreemanart.com/] [publisher site https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742890/swinging-into-history-by-karen-l-swanson-illustrated-by-laura-freeman/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Philosophy can help you become SERIOUSLY HAPPY, by Ben Aldridge (YA nonfiction)

May13
Book cover of Seriously Happy: 10 Life-Changing Philosophy Lessons From Stoicism to Zen to Supercharge Your Mindset, by Ben Aldridge. "The Thinker" statue wearing athletic socks, sneakers, and sunglasses rests his chin on fist and looks down at happy-face ball in his other hand.

Are you happy right now?
What about your happiness level for the week?
How can you live a better life?

“In the modern world, we have a big problem – a lot of us aren’t particularly happy,” (p.10) like this author who set out to shift his mindset into a happier mode by studying world philosophies.

First, you must define what happiness means to you, then uncover how living a good life is easier when you gain mental and emotional skills to weather its ups and downs.

At the heart of this book for teens are big lessons from ten philosophies: Zen, the Cynics, the Socratic School, Taoism, the Stoics, Aristotle, Buddhism, Epicurus, the Stoics again, and other ancient philosophers.

You can grow your resilience by studying the tenets of Buddhism, become seriously confident with advice from the Cynics, and power up your focus by studying Zen.

The author discusses each philosophy’s strengths in relation to living a good and balanced life, weaving in his experiences and reflections on seeking out different philosophical paths.

Each chapter ends with a set of challenges so you can interact more fully with that philosophy – walk a banana down the street (the Cynics), learn a challenging skill (the Stoics), get into the great outdoors (Taoism) – and see what its tenets might bring to your life.

When are you seriously happy and why?
**kmm

Book info: Seriously Happy: 10 Life-Changing Philosophy Lessons From Stoicism to Zen to Supercharge Your Mindset / Ben Aldridge. Quarto Publishing/Holler, 2024. [author site https://www.benaldridge.com/book] [publisher site https://quarto.com/books/9780711297807/seriously-happy] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Oh, wow! EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT DINOSAURS IS WRONG! by Nick Crumpton and Gavin Scott (MG nonfiction)

May9
Book cover of Everything You Know About Dinosaurs Is Wrong! by Dr. Nick Crumpton and Gavin Scott. Many dinosaurs large and small perch upon, walk through, look at, and fly across the bold capital letters of the title.

Roaring, green, scaly, gigantic – our mental images of dinosaurs are NOT RIGHT!

So much has been discovered in the past decade that we need to correct our old dino info.

Among the many WRONG facts that “everyone knows” about dinosaurs that need updating are

– Dinosaurs weren’t very smart (incorrect)
– Long-necked dinosaurs all looked the same (no)
– Tyrannosaurus could outrun you (also no)
– Raptors slashed their prey (nope)

Dinosaur-hunting expeditions now go beyond the usual deserts to Antarctica, sea cliffs, and deep inside mines.

Recent discoveries include dinosaurs that lived in trees or underground, those that cared for nests full of eggs, and sharp-toothed ones that ate both meat and plants.

Using new equipment and techniques to examine fossils discovered long ago, paleontologists can now tell us that some dinosaurs had feathers or fur, that they weren’t cold-blooded, and that some specimens need to be renamed because they are actually young or teen specimens of an already-named dino!

My favorite new fact: that brontosaurus and apatosaurus were indeed two different dinos, not two different names for the same one.

Lots of new names and great information for dino-lovers to learn in this oversized well-illustrated book, also available in paperback July 2025.

What’s your favorite dino?
**kmm

Book info: Everything You Know About Dinosaurs Is Wrong! (Everything You Know series) / Dr. Nick Crumpton; illustrated by Gavin Scott. Nosy Crow US, 2023. [author site https://www.nickcrumpton.com/] [artist site https://www.gavin-scott.co.uk/] [publisher site https://nosycrow.us/product/everything-you-know-about-dinosaurs-is-wrong/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

Look up high with A CAT’S GUIDE TO THE NIGHT SKY! by Stuart Atkinson & Brendan Kearney (nonfiction picturebook)

May8
Book cover of A Cat's Guide to the Night Sky, by Stuart Atkinson, illustrated by Brendan Kearney. A brown-striped tabby cat sits at lower right, her large eye gazing at constellations Canis Major the Great Dog, Taurus the Bull, Cygnus the Swan, Lyra the Lyre, Gemini the Twins, Canis Minor the Little Dog, Auriga the Charioteer, Crater the Cup, Aquila the Eagle, and Sagittarius the Archer encircling the title clockwise, with the Milky Way spanning the starry sky behind them.

Dark night, twinkling stars,
bright planets,
the Milky Way!

Felicity the cat is here to help you see the wonders of the night sky and know what you’re looking at.

You’ll learn important skywatching words like constellation and asterism. Did you know that the Big Dipper is an asterism within the constellation of Ursa Major: the Great Bear?

Different constellations are visible each season as the Earth moves around our star, the Sun. Felicity tells us the Greek story behind each constellation’s name and where you should look for it in the night sky.

Sagittarius the Archer is also called the Teapot, and Ophiucus means Serpent-Bearer in ancient Greek – but Felicity says “I don’t know anyone who sees a man holding a snake. It’s more like a child’s drawing of a house.” (pg. 27)

Along with the stars in the sky, you might see planets, shooting stars (meteor showers), the Northern Lights, satellites and the International Space Station, or even galaxies if you use binoculars or a telescope.

Felicity’s good advice for safe night viewing includes what to wear and bring, where to go to star-gaze, and who to go with, as well as a good glossary and index.

What’s your favorite thing to see in the night sky?
**kmm

Book info: A Cat’s Guide to the Night Sky / Stuart Atkinson; illustrated by Brendan Kearney. Laurence King Books US, 2018. [author site https://stuartatkinson.wordpress.com/writing/] [artist site https://www.brendandraws.com/] [publisher site https://us.laurenceking.com/products/a-cats-guide-to-the-night-sky] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Get to know CHARLES M. SCHULZ, creator of Snoopy and Peanuts, in a manga biography! by Yuzuri Kukui (Graphic novel nonfiction)

May5
Book cover of Charles M. Schulz: The Creator of Snoopy and Peanuts, by Yuzuri Kukui. Manga Biographies series. Centered above title is a manga image of young Charles Schulz sketching a cartoon as his characters Lucy, Linus, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock dance on pages flying off his desk.

Snoopy!
Charlie Brown!
Linus! Lucy! Woodstock!

We all recognize the characters of Peanuts, drawn by Charles Schulz, but how much do you know about the cartoonist’s life story?

A doodler from childhood, “Sparky” improved his techniques with a drawing course by mail during high school, delighting family and friends with his cartoons.

Returning to St. Paul after army service during World War II, Schulz worked at multiple jobs trying to get into the cartooning business.

Finally, a New York newspaper syndicate accepts his comic strip about little kids and a dog! Its original name was like another published comic, so the editors change it to “Peanuts.” Sparky hates the name, but is ecstatic that his work whose characters are named after his coworkers will be seen in newspapers across the US!

He rushes home to propose to lovely red-headed Donna – who says she’s decided to marry someone else… so Sparky threw himself into producing a daily comic strip.

Peanuts’ popularity grew as it appeared in more and more newspapers, then the Sunday color comic pages, then books. At age 32, Schulz won top cartoonist of the year!

His family grew, too, so he and Joyce and their five children moved to the warmer climate of southern California.

In 1960, Linus began the Legend of the Great Pumpkin, followed by Charlie Brown’s unrequited love for “the little red-headed girl” whom we never see, then “A Charlie Brown Christmas” animated television special.

Go with Snoopy to the moon, learn about Sparky’s family, and enjoy his enduring comic characters in this loving tribute, originally published in Japan with editorial supervision by Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates.

Who is your favorite Peanuts character?
**kmm

Book info: Charles M. Schulz: the creator of Snoopy and Peanuts (Manga Biographies series) / by Yuzuri Kukui; translated by Mari Marimoto. Udon Entertainment, 2024. [publisher site https://store.udonentertainment.com/collections/manga/products/manga-biographies-charles-m-schulz-the-creator-of-snoopy-and-peanuts] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Always stylish, meet BAIT THE TOAD! by Kendra Powers (nonfiction)

May2
Book cover of Bait the Toad, by Kendra Powers. Photo of a large toad wearing a shiny black top-hat with red band, while sitting calmly on a large branch.

In his garden or on the road,
oh so dapper is Bait the Toad!

From his quiet beginnings on the banks of the Rio Grande River to rising TikTok star, Bait remains a humble toad.

His polymer clay hats range from seasonal to casual to fancy, each custom-made by his photographer/caretaker.

Of course, the natural world is his first love, and he’s become very fond of orchids, too.

Includes his style tips for toads and a reminder that “frogs and toads are entirely different – and while frogs must be kissed to become princes, toads are plenty royal on their own, thank you very much.”

This small-format book of Bait’s most charming photos is a great gift for amphibian lovers and a fun story-starter for kids – “what journey are Bait and the orange cat starting?”

What’s your favorite type of hat?
**kmm

Book info: Bait the Toad / Kendra Powers. Catalyst Press, 2023. [author/photographer interview https://www.catalystpress.org/post/author-q-a-kendra-powers] [publisher site https://www.catalystpress.org/bait-the-toad] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.