books
for loan books to own
By Lisa Thalhimer
See What’s Sizzling in July
Try a Cookbook, Comic Book, Even
Books-in-a-Book
For summer fun, check out Grow It, Cook It:
Simple Gardening Projects and Delicious Recipes, (DK) edited by
Jill Bloomfield. With few exceptions, the projects are mostly of a
long-term nature, but there are plenty of things you and the kids can
start on this month. Other good news is that you don’t need land to
plant the fruits and vegetables in this book. Buy a few pots and potting
soil and you can start right in! The instructions are easy to follow
with lots of color photographs showing children following the
directions. You and your child may choose to grow sunflowers, tomatoes,
mint, beans, strawberries and more. Information at the top of each new
section tells you approximately how long you’ll have to care for the
plant before it becomes fruitful. Mint is a mere eight weeks, and
sunflowers are 10. Learn to plant sunflower seeds in tiny pots, changing
the pot size as the plant grows. The next pages consist of photo-graphs
and instructions for baking your own Sunflower pot loaves.
Looking for a fun and easy read for your 9- to
12-year-old? Boys in particular will love the humor in Julian Rodriguez
by Alexander Standler (Scholastic). Billed as “Episode One: The Trash
Crisis on Earth,” Standler successfully combines the comic book genre
with science fiction. The 128-page hardback tells Julian’s story in
modified comic book form. This is a book Jon Scieszka probably would
heartily endorse for his Guys Read pro-gram. First Officer Julian
Rodriguez, disguised as an 8-year-old boy, is on an undercover mission
to study humankind. He uses his computer to send reports back to the
Mothership. Most of his complaints involve his mistreatment by the human
life forms he lives with. I have informed The Paternal Unit over and
over again that my noontime capsule is an important part of my regimen.
It must contain At least two portions of the Earth food known as Ring
Ding; A delicious liquid energy source known as Strawberry Fizz; and One
hermetically sealed packet of Cool Ranch Krispy Poofs. Well, Mothership,
despite my repeated entreaties and exclamations, this morning I was
again presented with Some woodlike sticks of something called carrot; A
flavorless transparent liquid called water, which tastes like nothing at
all; and Something called a veggie-dog, which is too disgusting for me
to even put into words. Julian bears these injustices. But when the
Paternal Unit insists that Julian take out the stinking trash, he again
writes to the Mothership. Julian describes his treatment when he refuses
the menial chore: The cartoons are turned off. (Deprivation.) He is sent
to his room. (Imprisonment.) There will be no dinner until he takes out
the garbage. (Starvation.) The Mothership is horrified and responds.
Very well, First Officer. Prepare for Molecular Transmission. As soon as
you are safely on board we will set our tasers to ANNIHILATE and blow
their entire planet to smithereens. Julian decides to take out the trash
Authors Lauren Butler and Peter Chrisp and
illustrators Nick Abadzs, Andrew Ker and Mark Millmore, along with a
host of editors and designers, are the creators of DK’s impressive
Egyptorium. Ages 10 and up with an interest in ancient Egypt and a love
for facts will light up when they get a look at this large format
hardback. The thick pages include cut-outs, facts, photographs and ten
smaller books. A flipbook shows how pyramids were built. There’s a tiny
book in comic book form about Osiris and an even smaller one about
hieroglyphs. Want to know what the ancient kings ate? There’s a book for
that, too. What a fun way to explore this ancient civilization!
Helen Thomas, dean of the White House press corps,
is now the author of a pic-ture book for children. And it’s good.
Illustrated by noted editorial cartoonist Chip Bok, it’s a great read if
you and your youngsters visit the nation’s capitol. The Great White
House Breakout (Dial) is narrated by Sam. We moved to Washington, D.C.,
because of my mom’s job. She is the president of the United States. My
dad is the First Guy. Sam and his cat and pet rat wreak humorous havoc
on the White House. The trio slips away from the Secret Service, and Sam
enjoys his freedom. They play baseball at night, visit the Spy Museum
and the Air and Space Museum. Eventually, Sam makes his way back home
after an exciting rescue from atop the Washington Monument.
Lisa welcomes your comments about these books or any other
children’s books you enjoy. Her e-mail is
booklustr@aol.com.
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