Just as the weather cooled this week and fall began, a cookbook arrived for me in the library – a cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi! When I opened the book, I found myself reading a recipe for “Mustardy cauliflower cheese”, called the “ultimate comfort dish” by the author. (Page 92) Since the temperature had fallen to …
I have spent the summer reviewing books for children and youth. As the summer ends, I am going to write about my favourite children’s book, thinking about my favourite author – and Madeleine L’Engle is my favourite author of all time. L’Engle wrote books for youth and adults. I think when this is the case, …
I have spent the summer reviewing books for children and teens. In a month when we have heard that the Amazon rainforest is burning, glaciers are melting and extreme weather is the norm, it seems only reasonable to review the iconic environmental advocacy book, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. Also, my consideration of children’s books …
I learn more about an artist from a book written for youth than I do from a book written for adults. If I think about it, the reason is that the authors of books for youth work much harder to illustrate their points with pictures while the adult books seem to rely more on words …
Originally published in 1964, I reread The Pushcart War to prepare for a summer trip to New York City. This is the story of how the owners of the small wooden pushcarts that sell anything and everything on New York City streets won the “war” against the truck owners who were trying to have them banned …
Last Monday I wrote a blog about activism and supporting young activists. One of the best ways that activists can be supported is by ensuring that they are well-nourished. This is the background to Julia Turshen’s book Feed the Resistance: Recipes and Ideas for Getting Involved. Turshen outlines the logic regarding this at the start …
This week’s book recommendation is for Charlotte in London by Joan MacPhail Knight and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This book documents the diary of a young American girl on a trip from Giverny where her family is living to London one spring and summer in 1895. While the book is recommended for young people aged …
Do you remember warm summer nights that you spent reading when you were a teen? Can you remember being in a nice soft chair or a hammock and losing all sense of time as you read a wonderful story? The pages turned, almost without you being aware that it was you doing this. This is …
Chagall for Children, written by Helene Lamarche, presents a very artistic vision of the life of Marc Chagall. Told in a simple style, and illustrated with the artist’s own drawings and paintings, this is a book that will help children come to know this optimistic man and his astounding work. Chagall was an artist with …
The importance of this wonderful book is overwhelming. Its importance is not even outlined by the author, Robert Macfarlane, between its covers. To truly understand why this is such an important book, you must read the back cover: “ When the most recent edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary – widely used in schools around …
