Book Reviews Food

Maisie Ferris and her family have always loved dreaming up big ideas, even if their neighbors in a small Illinois town think they are a little unusual. One day, a visiting journalist from England mentions that he has never heard of a snack called popcorn. Suddenly, Maisie and her father hatch a brilliantly wild plan. They decide to grow an enormous crop of popcorn, load it onto a ship, and introduce the crunchy, popping treat to the people of England. Against all odds, their daring business venture becomes a massive success across the ocean. Before she knows it, Maisie's wildest dreams are coming true, leading her all the way to a royal meeting with Queen Victoria herself! This delightful and adventurous story proves that with a bit of imagination and a lot of hard work, the most unusual ideas can take you anywhere.

Jasmine Toguchi is tired of Sophie doing everything first. As New Year's approaches, Jasmine's family gathers in Los Angeles to make mochi. Sophie gets to help the women roll the soft rice treats, but Jasmine is told she is too young. That is when Jasmine spots a different chance: pounding mochi with the men. It is special, it is important, and Sophie has definitely never done it before. But tradition says mochi pounding is for boys, and the heavy hammer is not easy to lift. With determination, humor, and plenty of mess, Jasmine sets out to prove she deserves a turn. This lively first book in the Jasmine Toguchi series celebrates family, Japanese American culture, and a girl who wants to make her own place.

Niki Nakayama's story is served in thirteen unforgettable bites. As a child, Niki experimented with food and flavors. As she grew older, she followed her dream of becoming a chef, even when people told her that women did not belong at the highest levels of Japanese cuisine. Instead of giving up, Niki kept learning, creating, and letting her food speak for itself. Structured like a kaiseki meal, this picture book biography introduces readers to the Japanese American chef behind the celebrated Los Angeles restaurant n/naka. From childhood kitchen moments to bold professional choices, Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites is an inspiring true story about creativity, persistence, culture, and the courage to make your own path.

The doorbell is ringing, and family is arriving for a very special pasta night. There is just one tiny problem. Everyone wants a completely different type of pasta for dinner! Nonna Ana from Catania will only eat lasagna. Nonno Titi from Tahiti insists on having his spaghettini. Zio Tony wants ravioli, Zia Trini must have rotini, and the cousins are begging for tortellini. The kitchen is quickly turning into a wild, wonderful mess of noodles, sauce, and shouting relatives. With so many picky guests making their own special demands, the family dinner is spinning wildly out of control. You will laugh out loud as the kitchen gets more and more chaotic. Find out if everyone can come together to make this hilarious family pasta night go off without a hitch.

You thought you were being so clever when you missed school on the day your class picked out vegetables for a giant two-week science project. But your plan backfires completely when you return to discover you have been assigned the one vegetable nobody else wanted: the weird, purple, and totally dirty rutabaga. You are definitely not a vegetable fan, and you certainly never planned on babysitting one. But after you draw a little face on its bumpy skin, you start to realize this odd little plant is actually kind of cool. There is just one massive problem: vegetables rot. If you want to keep your new rutabaga buddy happy, healthy, and entirely rot-free, you are going to have to engineer the absolute best dirt in the world. Get ready to roll up your sleeves, dig into nature, and call in some favors from your backyard chickens to save the day.

You might be the most brilliant scientist in your elementary school, but cooking family dinner is a chemistry experiment you never signed up for. A pinch of this and a dash of that just does not seem very scientific. But you need to figure out recipes quickly, because there is a ten thousand dollar prize on the line for a major bake-off. To make your life even more complicated, the toughest bully in school has developed an obsession with your homemade brownies. If you cannot supply him with a fresh batch every morning, you are going to get clobbered. With the help of your best friends, you begin to realize that the kitchen is just another kind of laboratory. You will have to keep your cool and measure your ingredients perfectly to win the prize and keep the school bully happy at the same time.

Katie Carew is just an ordinary third-grader, except for one very extraordinary problem! Ever since she accidentally wished on a shooting star to be anyone but herself, her wishes keep coming true in the strangest possible ways. Lately, she feels completely torn between her two best friends, and all the stress makes her wish she could just escape. Suddenly, the magical switch wind arrives again! This time, it transforms Katie into Lucille, the school cafeteria lunch lady. At first, experiencing life from the other side of the food counter seems like a fun break from her third-grade drama. But things quickly spiral out of control when Katie accidentally starts a massive food fight and starts launching egg salad across the room! The school principal is definitely not happy with a lunch lady who creates so much chaos. Now Katie must figure out how to clean up the gigantic mess, fix her friendships, and get back into her own body before lunchtime is completely ruined for everyone.

Meet Tough Cookie, a hardened private eye living at the bottom of the cookie jar. In his prime on the police force, he busted the Ginger Snaps and crumbled the Macaroons. Now, he faces his crunchiest case yet: Fingers has snatched his old partner, Chips. Teaming up with his best girl, Pecan Sandy, Tough Cookie hits the crumbs and sets out to stop Fingers before it is too late. This hilarious spoof brings classic detective mysteries to the kitchen, packed with sweet puns and nonstop action. You will follow a chewy champion of justice who refuses to crumble under pressure. Can Tough Cookie solve the case and put Fingers away for keeps, or is this the way the cookie finally crumbles?

Step into the kitchen for a very sticky and sweet adventure. When the family decides to make a giant, delicious pancake, things quickly start to go wrong. Watch out as the cooking turns into a crazy chase. You will read about flipping, flopping, and running as fast as you can. Biff, Chip, and Kipper are trying their best to help, but this is one breakfast that has a mind of its own. With short sentences and easy words, this story is perfect for practicing your reading aloud. The funny pictures show every messy moment, helping you guess what happens next. Grab a fork and see if anyone actually gets to eat this wild and tasty treat.

Step into the dining room of Monster Max, a hungry beast with an absolutely frightful appetite. From bug burgers and cockroach curry to glasses of thick slug milkshake, Max happily gobbles up the grossest, goopiest meals you can imagine. But out of all the creepy, crawly, and sticky treats on the menu, his ultimate favorite snack will always be a squirmy spider sandwich. This incredibly silly, gunky, and gloopy picture book invites you to a monstrous feast full of terrible tastes. Prepare for a laugh out loud journey through the messiest mealtime ever.

Elizabeth has just arrived in England after moving all the way from the warm West Indies, and everything looks completely different. The streets, the weather, and the people all feel very strange to her. Luckily, she does not have to figure it out alone. Her funny old friends Mr. Hot Pepper, Miss Lemon, and the entire Onion Family are right there by her side. They are eager to give Elizabeth advice on how to handle her new home. The only problem is that their silly ideas do not always work out the way they planned. Join Elizabeth for a funny and heartwarming story about making a new place feel like home.

Get ready to laugh, cheer, and feel incredibly hungry with this hilarious collection featuring the first three adventures of everyone's favorite stray, Stick Dog! Join Stick Dog and his wildly easily distracted friends—Poo-Poo, Mutt, Stripes, and Karen—as they embark on epic neighborhood quests to track down the most delicious human food they can find. In the first adventure, the gang catches the scent of sizzling burgers and must figure out how to swipe the perfect barbecue lunch. The fun continues in the second book when the dogs hatch a master plan to outsmart a hot dog vendor, facing ridiculous challenges like distracting the frankfurter guy and rescuing Karen from a human's house. Finally, the third book introduces the crew to a newfangled flavor that changes their lives forever: hot, cheesy pizza! Packed with silly stick-figure drawings, wild problem solving, and heartwarming friendship, this three book bundle delivers nonstop laughs. Follow the hungry hounds as they dodge dangers, rescue kittens, and play the messiest games of catch ever, all in the name of a good meal.