In her reworking of the classic lullaby, Long intentionally de-emphasizes the materialism of the original, making no promises of such grand gifts as a diamond ring or horse and cart. Rather, this Mama character--one of Long's (illustrator of Ten Little Rabbits) familiar, gentle bunnies--comforts her cotton-tailed child with vows to share the sound of cricket calls and a song on her banjo, the sight of a shooting star and the harvest moon and, finally, ""As that moon drifts through the sky,/ Mama's going to sing you a lullaby."" Blending images of nature with such timelessly reassuring items as teddy bear and picture book, Long's song is gracious if not especially inventive. The art, meanwhile, is both soothing and diverting. While the audience (like Mama's cooperative offspring) may well find their eyelids growing heavy, they will be happily distracted by the pictures' fetching particulars: a patchwork quilt displaying miniature renditions of objects mentioned in the lullaby and, on the bedside table, a book illustration that hints that this sleepy rabbit is reading the same book that they are. Ages up to 5. (Mar.) FYI: Notecards (set of 16, $9.95, ISBN 0-8118-1643-5) and a 10""-tall plush doll ($14.95, -1792-X) based on the book are being released simultaneously.
British-born artist David Hockney has lived in L.A. since the 1970s. His luxuriant drawings of California, with their Mediterranean-like idyll of blue skies, palm trees and swimming pools, speak of Continue reading »
Hints of the Calvin and Hobbes formula crop up in this story, a debut for both author and illustrator. Alex, the protagonist, has a purple dog named Mister. But Mister is no stuffed animal--he's a Continue reading »
The Star Wars Party Book: Recipes and Ideas for Galactic Occasions
Mikyla Bruder, Chronicle Books
From an Otoh Gunga Cowabunga (featuring ""Bubble City Pops,... floating frozen confections"") to all that's needed to enjoy ""Jabba's Movie Marathon"" (including a recipe for ""Salacious Crumb Continue reading »
Extrapolating from a historical tidbit related to the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Enderle and Tessler (co-authors of Dear Timothy Tibbitts) produce only a bland tale. Their story begins Continue reading »
Packaged in a resealable case, Sweet Dreams by Cooper Edens and Sheryl Abrams makes an elegant stocking stuffer. The playing-card-size deck contains 36 ""bedtime wishes,"" just right for tucking Continue reading »
In this ode to everyday activities and things, a free-spirited girl hops, jumps and kicks her way across the countryside, paying homage to her friends along the way. Like a satellite launched into Continue reading »
The Amazing Book of Paper Boats: Paper Engineering and Illustrations
Jerry Roberts, Chronicle Books
Aspiring ship captains can fold 18 boats (all on waterproof paper) and float them with The Amazing Book of Paper Boats by Jerry Roberts, illus. by Willy Bullock. After a brief history of boats and Continue reading »
Couscous: Fresh and Flavorful Contemporary Recipes
Kitty Morse, Chronicle Books
Author of many books on Moroccan cooking, including The Vegetarian Table, Morse divides the couscous recipes here into two categories: traditional and contemporary. The traditional recipes are all Continue reading »
Mad Professor: Concoct Extremely Weird Science Projects--Robot Food, Saucer Slime, Martian Volcanoes, and More
Mark Frauenfelder, Chronicle Books
Kids looking for something fun to do will find plenty of ideas in an assortment of hands-on volumes. With crisp, retro comic illustrations, Mad Professor: Concoct Extremely Weird Science Projects Continue reading »
Lesa Cline-Ransome, Chronicle Books, James Ransome
Children count to 10 and back in Quilt Counting by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illus. by James E. Ransome. This follow-up to Quilt Alphabet celebrates the ways in which a quilt (""a legacy handcrafted"") Continue reading »
McNair ( Cold Pasta ) and food photographer Brabant here join forces once again to produce a book as seductive in its photographs as in its recipes. They treat pasta with heartening practicality. Continue reading »
Carucci has no TV program or series of books to her name. She is, foremost, a teacher who has worked her way through the ranks of culinary America for 20 years. Trained at the California Culinary Continue reading »
Damon Burnard invites readers to play the familiar ""I Spy"" game on each page of I Spy in the Ocean and I Spy in the Jungle, both illus. by Julia Cairns. In a spread for Ocean, for example, Continue reading »
This is a lavishly illustrated history and celebration of the Pickle Family Circus, a cooperative circus that has toured on the West Coast since 1976 and was founded by members of the San Francisco Continue reading »
In her reworking of the classic lullaby, Long intentionally de-emphasizes the materialism of the original, making no promises of such grand gifts as a diamond ring or horse and cart. Rather, this Continue reading »
This brief, attractively produced volume is made up of love letters written by women to women over the past 150 years and dozens of collages by Turner and artist Sheri Tornatore. The letters are Continue reading »
New York City's Central Park guinea pig PeeWee meets his match and his dreams of starting a family come true in PeeWee & Plush, the third installment in the Park Pals Adventure series by Johanna Continue reading »
You mean people don't read Playboy
for the Nabokov stories and hard-hitting reportage? Sturdily produced, this is a candy-colored, unpretentious gaze over a Continue reading »
This imaginative story of a classroom full of elementary-age monsters contains just the right amount of ghoulish humor--enough to mildly gross out its audience, but not enough to frighten. After Continue reading »
Cape Cod Stories: Tales from Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard
Chronicle Books
With its images of water, sand, boats, architecture, narrow roads, weather and people, this anthology's selections successfully evoke the physical and cultural reality of Cape Cod. John Updike, Continue reading »
Aimed at teenage girls, Leave Your Mark Here: A Journal by Celeste Kadatz, illus. by Tracy McGuinness, challenges readers to respond to such questions as ""What really bugs you?"" (""Snarly dogs Continue reading »
Spirited alliteration and humorous illustrations propel this fast-paced beginning-reader whodunit. When Gus and Gertie, a pair of traveling penguins, hop off the ferryboat for their island vacation Continue reading »
``It happened in my 40th year that I fell into a depression so deep that even the thought of sex could not raise me from it.'' So begins McFall's seductive novel about a severely dysfunctional Continue reading »
Purists and food snobs, look elsewhere for instructions on staging a complete Szechuan banquet. Instead, this is a bonanza for American cooks who like Chinese-style dishes and want to learn how to Continue reading »
Move aside, Lassie and Rin-Tin-Tin: this unusually refreshing picture book boasts one of the most endearing canines ever seen outside of a dogfood commercial. A text that exudes immediacy and Continue reading »
This pretty picture book only flirts with garden history. Despite the caveat, it's a pleasant and valuable survey of gardens in Asian art. Titley, former curator of Turkish and Persian manuscripts in Continue reading »
Margaret Park Bridges, Chronicle Books, M. Bridges
Two gray raccoons make the best of a rainy day in this call-and-response book by Bridges and Sweet (previously paired for Will You Take Care of Me?). When a Continue reading »
Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and other male leaders of the famous interwar German art school steered women applicants into the weaving workshop because they considered textiles to be ``women's Continue reading »
Just when it seems that Proven al cuisine is almost old-fashioned, Brennan makes it new again. She and her husband bought their home in the fuzzily defined region of Haute Provence in 1970. While Continue reading »
In her reworking of the classic lullaby, Long intentionally de-emphasizes the materialism of the original, making no promises of such grand gifts as a diamond ring or horse and cart. Rather, this Continue reading »
``There is a great deal of information and entertainment packed into this unusual counting book,'' said PW about this clever introduction to Native American culture. Ages 4-8. Continue reading »
James Thurber's curmudgeonly satire on the American mania for sending Christmas cards, John Cheever's bittersweet tale of a lonely New York elevator operator, Anne Sexton's deeply ambivalent lyric Continue reading »
Mama, Do You Love Me?: 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition
Barbara M. Joosse, Chronicle Books
A decade ago, PW called Barbara Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me?, illus. by Barbara Lavallee, ""a striking volume which uses a timeless culture to convey a timeless message."" Chronicle celebrates Continue reading »
Sylvia Long's Mother Goose Block Books: 16 Board Books in a Box
Sylvia Long, Chronicle Books
Chronicle continues its line of successful Block Books with a set based on Sylvia Long's Mother Goose. Sylvia Long's Mother Goose Block Books contains 16 chunky board books just right for small Continue reading »
Weill, who worked for an international relief organization in Vietnam, Shea and Trang use a counting-book format to introduce readers to Tet—the Vietnamese new year—"as big a Continue reading »
While pressure cookers have been around for years, the new generation of quieter, safer and more efficient cookers is part of the inspiration for this collaborative cookbook. The book re-introduces Continue reading »
Part of Chronicle's Compact Design Portfolio series, this small-format illustrated volume showcases the graceful, curvy Modernist ceramic pieces of Hungarian-born industrial designer Eva Zeisel Continue reading »
Monninger's touching account of fishing and hiking in the company of his beloved Nellie, an 11-year-old golden retriever whom he suspected of having cancer, is both a fly-fisher's engaging daybook Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
Goldilocks and the Three Bears/Ricitos de Oro y Los Tres Osos
Marta Mata, Marta Mata I. Garriga, Chronicle Books
While these books' juxtaposition of English and Spanish texts may fill a need, the undistinguished retellings of familiar tales may deem the titles more suited to adult admirers of Spanish artist Continue reading »
Best known for his illustrations of such classics as Treasure Island and Robin Hood , N. C. Wyeth also had a successful career as a muralist. In the '40s he created a series of murals for New York's Continue reading »
Imagine 129 full-page color plates of some of the most languid women ever painted in the West, one after another, and you'll have some idea of the cumulative effect of this book. It lacks a subtitle Continue reading »
Although France does not have a vegetarian tradition per se, Brennan (Potager) gathers 75 recipes that reflect the characteristic French insistence on ``ingredients that are fresh, seasonal, and Continue reading »
Some 225 images shot by international photographers are accompanied by essays from scientists and others in a consciousness-raising book about rain forests worldwide. Continue reading »
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays
Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht, Chronicle Books
The unstoppable Piven and Borgenicht are at it again, producing another in the seemingly endless series of ""Worst-Case Scenario"" books. This time, the authors turn their attention to the Continue reading »
Koren, an architect and author of New Fashion Japan, divides his time between San Francisco and Tokyo. The Japanese, he proclaims, are ``the world's retailers par excellence,'' ferociously Continue reading »
Slonim's (illustrator of Moishe's Miracle) first solo book venture is a lighthearted caper with a kid-pleasing setting: a candy factory. The elfin Johnny Continue reading »
New titles arrive in board book editions just right for small hands. Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses, by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben (the team behind the Gaspard and Lisa books), demonstrate Continue reading »
Nothing can quite compare to the pride of knowing that by carefully adhering to simple procedures and useful tips one can create a flavorful bread from bare essentials. Hensperger ( Bread and Baking Continue reading »
Helen Cassidy Page, Helen Cassidy Page, Chronicle Books
Targeting a wide audience, this comprehensive guide offers strategies for defense against heart disease, which, the authors say, kills almost 500,000 Americans every year. The volume's four-part Continue reading »
In her first novel, Alcala (author of the story collection Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist) has crafted a fecund fable about the convergence of cultures--Mexican, American and Jewish--along the Continue reading »
A daily newspaper column is an ephemeral thing, but in this collection of 100 columns, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Carroll often manages to be observant, amusing and even poignant. These small Continue reading »
The Moral of the Story... New compilations feature classic rhymes, fables and folklore retold. Illustrator Helen Ward contributes pithy retellings and breathtakingly detailed watercolor-and-ink Continue reading »
Brussels natives Hellings and Maes, a married couple making their picture-book debut, stress tolerance in this good-natured story of two oddball mice. Mini-mouse Edith--whose polka-dot skirt indeed Continue reading »
Morse (Come With Me to the Kasbah) does a standout job with this latest entry in the publisher's geographic/ethnic Vegetarian Table books, not because she follows the series formula but because she Continue reading »
In an inventive variation on the alphabet book, each page offers a puzzle with words that are homophones or homonyms. Once the trick is learned, the rest is easy, though it's fun to go back and Continue reading »
A bevy of bright faces comprises this small, interactive board book, the first in the Peek-A-Boo series. Sturdy, highly glossed pages showcase the cheerful visages of various animals, humans or toys Continue reading »
Josepha, a generous-hearted immigrant boy in the time of Willa Cather's prairie epics, is leaving school to work the harvest. Seeing him off, a younger friend thinks about ``red-faced Josepha. Past Continue reading »
Also celebrating an anniversary--its 30th--is Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Kraus, illus. by Jose Aruego. Minimalist art and memorable text are more than the sum of its parts: ""Whose mouse are Continue reading »
Kids can make ""Hollywood Handbags,"" folksy robots out of tin cans, ""funny putty"" and ""silly slime"" with Cool Crafts for Creative Kids by Jennifer Knapp. Most elements are already in the Continue reading »
Humble Andre has always aspired to be a great chef, but he is unprepared for what results when the Emperor presents him with the tallest chef's hat imaginable. He impulsively vows that the hat will Continue reading »
Victoria Wise, Lou Seibert Pappas, Chronicle Books
Mouth-watering color photos enhance the appeal of these 90 recipes, which adapt Mexican cuisine to the vegetarian diet. Wise (American Charcuterie), a former first chef of Chez Panisse, avoids animal Continue reading »
Freelance writer Miller introduces 30 contemporary artists in a volume that suggests the versatility of glass and engenders curiosity about glassworkers' techniques. She describes the glass artists' Continue reading »
Big Trucks and Diggers in 3D by Mark Blum allows readers to view a ""TH103 Telescopic Handler"" (named for an extension that stretches out like a telescope) and a ""854G Wheel Dozer"" through a Continue reading »
To her sizable roster of affable and believable young characters, Hurwitz (Class Clown) adds the endearingly bumbling Noah. Frequently eliciting the lament of Continue reading »
Wakiyamas (Humphrey the Lost Whale) fresh, distinctive artwork and Masurels (Christmas Is Coming) understated story infuse this toy tale with quiet originality. Whats too big is a boys blue-and-white Continue reading »
Gorgeously illustrated with eye-opening color cover reproductions on almost every page, Server's enthusiastic follow-up to Danger Is My Business is a nostalgic look into the brief but ``rambunctious Continue reading »
Hodgson's cleverly illustrated novel takes the reader on a fabulous journey, not only to the Aurora Islands, a mysterious trio of land formations that obsess the eccentric and delightful Continue reading »
Holding true to what the cover promises, The Fairy Tale Catalog: Everything You Need to Make a Fairy Tale by Sally Gardner offers a selection of ""good"" and ""bad fairies,"" ""tooth fairies"" and Continue reading »
In this follow-up to C Is for Curious: An ABC of Feelings , readers are introduced to numbers and actions. Each spread of this unique concept book features a designated number of creatures performing Continue reading »
This fun collection celebrates exactly the desserts you'd expect from America's diners: fluffy Chocolate Cream Pie, three-layer High and Mighty White Cake and chewy Old-Time Peanut Butter Cookies. Continue reading »
Both Ambrose and Bowden have been in the news lately, Ambrose for allegations of plagiarism and Bowden as the author of the now screen-adapted Black Hawk Down. Continue reading »
Food writer and Massachusetts native Johnson delivers a fresh perspective on Irish cookery with an engaging collection of recipes culled from Irish (and Irish-American) chefs, hoteliers and long-time Continue reading »
``My complaint against traditional American desserts is that, while they often look tasty in their kitsch bliss of squiggly icing and mile-high meringue, they rarely deliver,'' proclaims pastry chef Continue reading »
Mark Johnstone, Leslie Aboud Holzman, Chronicle Books
San Francisco might be better known for being part of the alternative-lifestyle vanguard than for being a ""hotbed"" of creative accomplishment, but this well-intentioned volume makes a case for the Continue reading »
Two board books by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober introduce the works of world-renowned artists to the youngest audience. In each, lyrical text accompanies 10 masterpieces. A Magical Day with Continue reading »
Freelance photographer Cox tracks black bears, from meadows to creek beds and tree tops. His book of documentary photographs, which his publishers claim is the first to concentrate on this species in Continue reading »
Stoking the fires with ingredients she advanced in Hot, Hotter, Hottest, Hazen again finds inspiration internationally, although this time without meat. Fat, however, is something to watch here. Continue reading »
Although billed as a children's book, this cat-happy twist on the traditional English Christmas song is best targeted to hard-core feline fanciers of any age. These people won't care that the lines Continue reading »
The title question so intrigues a spunky redheaded girl that she engages in a daylong dialectic with her bemused mother. ""You're littler than I am,"" explains her mother as she helps the girl get Continue reading »
The author and artist who produced The Eyes of Gray Wolf here poetically and artistically portray a grizzly's birth and coming of age. Borrowing nicknames given to brown bears by native peoples of Continue reading »
Marshall doesn't quite live up to his wish ""to convey a sense of the quality and diversity of contemporary art being done in New York City.'' Most of the 50 artists represented here, including Continue reading »
Using the same format as 50 New York Artists (Paperback Forecasts, Sept. 26), this title suffers in a similar way by according an equal amount of space to photographs of the artists as to their work. Continue reading »
Only squares won't dig the beatnik slang and improvisational rhymes of this beboppable, unstoppable tale. Sax-playing cat Oobie-do takes the train to San Francisco, where he tries to ``make jazzzzzy Continue reading »
Is it an accident or suicide when Sally goes over a cliff north of San Francisco in her sister's borrowed Toyota? It becomes a moot question in Beeman's (A Parallel Life and Other Stories) evocative Continue reading »
As this extensive pictorial history vividly chronicles, swimsuits have gauged the ``public undressing of America'' for over a century. More than a fashion statement or a seaworthy garment, the Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
Born in Hong Kong, Low now teaches cooking in the United States and offers here a personal, ""homestyle'' approach that nonetheless gives the basics of Chinese techniques. Dumplings and shrimp toast, Continue reading »
In Will You Still Love Me? by Jean- Baptiste Baronian, illus. by Noris Kern, a follow-up to I Love You with All My Heart, Polo the polar bear is sad because his mother and father are too busy to Continue reading »
Richard Diebenkorn, Chronicle Books, Barnaby Conrad III
This chapbook of uncollected figurative images by West Coast artist Richard Diebenkorn, known mostly for his abstractions, brings together a body of work that precedes his most famous Ocean Park Continue reading »
Diffident and lonely after moving to a new town, Pete finds solace on a hilltop where he can gaze up at hawks reeling in the sky. When he happens upon a nearby farmstead, he is met by a gruff, Continue reading »
With brief, accessible text, engaging topics and a perforated page of collectible cards Seymour Simon's See More Reader series will rope in even the most reluctant readers. According to Danger! Continue reading »
Any Bear Can Wear Glasses: The Spectacular Bear & Other Curious Creatures
Matthew Long, Chronicle Books
The illustrator of Ten Little Rabbits and Fire Race collaborates with her husband and son for a lively look at 11 endangered or threatened species. Playfully introducing each creature, she presents Continue reading »
No, this is not the name of some strange new series hero, but a bird identification book cleverly formatted in a six-ring looseleaf binder sized like a Filofax. Even the four tabbed dividers ape that Continue reading »
In the first of these two additions to the Little Bunny series, the title character and Big Brother Rabbit go to the beach. She is blissful in the water--floating, playing and ignoring Big Brother, Continue reading »
In his bestselling The Soul's Code, Hillman challenged traditional psychology by suggesting that each person has a spiritual path or destiny, distinctly separate from genetics or environment, that is Continue reading »
In his first children's book, octogenarian Albert uses the appealing story of a lonely man as the framework for an edifying lesson on desert wildlife. Living in a remote adobe house, with only his Continue reading »
Informal history, musings, recipes and gsplendid artwork render this volume entertaining for armchair cooks as well as useful in the kitchen. Readers can browse leisurely through accounts of Continue reading »
``I brought my love a tabby cat, / A tabby cat, a tabby cat, / My love made him a velvet hat / To wear when we were wed.'' Thus begins West's whimsical, enchanting story about a woman who gives her Continue reading »
In 1965, 22-year-old Law was living in a Los Angeles mansion where Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and various musicians subletted suites. Joining this casual music scene, she took intimate snapshots of such Continue reading »
What Can You Do with a Paper Bag?: Hats, Wigs, Masks, Crowns, Helmets and Headdresses Inspired by Worrks of Art from Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Judith Cressy, Chronicle Books
The humblest of materials transform the pedestrian into the sublime in What Can You Do with a Paper Bag? by Judith Cressy, photos by Maria Quiroga and Christine A. Butler, illus. by Edward Heins. Continue reading »
Right from the cover image, fans of Mama, Do You Love Me? will recognize Lavallee's enchanting watercolors of the frozen North. Franklin's (The Old, Old Man and the Very Little Boy) resonant tale of Continue reading »
THE THANKSGIVING TABLE: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition
Diane Morgan, Chronicle Books
This primer on Thanksgiving cooking and traditions brims with fresh ideas for both food preparation and table decoration. Morgan (Cooking for the Week) is the Continue reading »
The Metcalfe Family Album: Six Generations of Traditions and Memories
Sallyann J. Murphey, Chronicle Books
When Jan Andersen, raised in a lonely, single-parent household, marries into the Metcalfe clan, she is given responsibility, as the ""new mistress,"" for the Metcalfe Family Album, which has Continue reading »
The titular white bunny is back in two new board books: Sam's Little Sister and Sam Loves Kisses by Yves Got. In the first, Sam lists the things he and his sister, Sophie, do together. In the Continue reading »
With brief, accessible text, engaging topics and a perforated page of collectible cards Seymour Simon's See More Reader series will rope in even the most reluctant readers. According to Danger! Continue reading »
Something's Happening on Calabash Street: A Story with Thirteen Recipes
Judith Ross Enderle, Chronicle Books, Judith Ross Enderle
A cursory look at cultural influence complicates this celebratory look at a street fair, which includes a mouthwatering set of international recipes. While Mischa's grandmother makes golubtsi Continue reading »
This collection of photographs of works by Nash, a wood sculptor who has lived and worked in Wales for the past 20 years, shows the varied ways in which the artist creates forms from wood while Continue reading »
The Big Book of Backyard Cooking: 250 Favorite Recipes for Enjoying the Great Outdoors
Betty Rosbottom, Chronicle Books
When the temperature climbs and it's time to fire up the backyard grill again, culinary author Rosbottom's hefty cookbook will give grillers a treasure-trove of recipes, combining old favorites with Continue reading »
THE WINE LOVER COOKS WITH WINE: Great Recipes for the Essential Ingredient
Sid Goldstein, Sidney R. Goldstein, Chronicle Books
According to Goldstein, wine is a "magical ingredient" that "tenderizes and adds moisture to food, as well as imparting a deep, complex flavor." The author of Continue reading »
Typeface demo sheets, eye charts and logos come together to create a lush, idiosyncratic catalogue of visual ephemera as chosen by Rothenstein, a designer, and Gooding, an art critic and curator. Continue reading »
Joosse's book joins another bestselling title, the text and illustrations of which inspire hours of fun as books-cum-nesting blocks. Mama, Do You Love Me? Nesting Blocks based on the book by Continue reading »
Jonathan London, Chronicle Books, London And Chaffee
""This eminently approachable book gives eloquent testament to the first pair of California condors to return to the wild since 1987,"" said PW. Ages 3-8. Continue reading »
Kids can harness ""the mysterious power of the wind"" with Spike and Jeff's Sailcar Kit. The smartly written guidebook, Sailcars Ahoy, gives step-by-step instructions for using the enclosed Continue reading »
In this grand chorus of one-upmanship, 25 wild animals vaunt their unique senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Addressing an anonymous painter, each beast has one poem in which to Continue reading »
Bantock's (Griffin & Sabine) light verse is enhanced by his color illustrations in this small, fetching book. As an example, look at his painting of a befanged, richly chestnut-colored dog, muzzle Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
San Francisco Style: Design, Decor, and Architecture
Diane Dorrans Saeks, Chronicle Books
Architecturally, San Francisco style encompasses elements ranging from Victorian to modernist. Aesthetically, it varies, yet some driving forces persist; namely, ""personal style, individuality and Continue reading »
Fashionably postmodern art teams up, somewhat problematically, with a sweet text in this debut. If thunder rrrumbled and lightning crack-acked/ If the sky rained down pink lemonade.../.../ I wouldnt Continue reading »
In The Long Road Leads to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation, Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh illuminates the spiritual benefits afforded by walking mindfully. Encouraging his Continue reading »
A Child's Garden of Verses: A Classic Illustrated Edition
Robert Louis Stevenson, Chronicle Books
A plethora of poetry books arrive just in time for National Poetry Month. Now available in a board book edition, A Child's Garden of Verses, compiled by Cooper Edens, pairs eight of Robert Louis Continue reading »
Yan admits to having "eaten my way across Asia more times than I can count." Luckily, he collected plenty of recipes along the route. These recipes are for simple, traditional dishes, many Continue reading »
Madame Bosky's Fortune Telling Kit: A Book and Card Set
Kirsten Hall, Chronicle Books
reading the future Modeled on Russian gypsy fortune-telling cards, Madame Boskey's Fortune Telling Kit: A Book and Card Set by Kirsten Hall and Amy Christensen, illus. by Dana Cooper, contains 48 Continue reading »
Certain to bring on a shiver or two, this volume presents a tale from Irish folklore, which Hague embellishes with suitably shadowy, eerie watercolors. The opening image effectively conveys the Continue reading »
Tis the Season: A Classic Illustrated Christmas Treasury
Chronicle Books
Reproductions of early-20th-century ephemera and children's book art grace 'Tis the Season: A Classic Illustrated Christmas Treasury, compiled by Cooper Edens. Included are lyrics to ""Silent Continue reading »
Mary Jane Begin illustrates the classic story of Mole, Badger, Rat and Toad, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Each chapter opens with a vignette and includes a full-page painting of a Continue reading »
Anne Gatti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chronicle Books
Mozart's most child-friendly opera receives the royal treatment in this elegant yet highly approachable picture book. Accompanied by the sweet strains of musical highlights (if readers wish, they can Continue reading »
Nina's ire is stirred by her own limitations, by adults' underestimation, by rules and by toys that insist on getting lost. Kroll (The Biggest Pumpkin Continue reading »
Gray Wolf, bereft of his mate, hunts alone in the snow-bright night, unknowingly infringing on another pack's territory. ``His eyes burn like steady flames. The leader of the pack stares back. Their Continue reading »
Greenfield's stark photographs of girls and young women doing everything from practicing Tae-Bo in Beverly Hills to performing lap dances in Las Vegas aren't for the faint of heart. But Continue reading »
Knockout Mouse: A Bill Damen Silicon Valley Mystery
James Calder, Chronicle Books
When Silicon Valley filmmaker Bill Damen learns that a guest at his girlfriend's dinner party has died, allegedly of food poisoning, the natural-born PI goes into investigative ""stealth mode""; a Continue reading »
A winsome calf provides the backdrop--literally--for this charming story. With each turn of the page, the young animal is imaginatively transformed to reflect some activity of the four seasons: snow Continue reading »
Jammed with such enticements as ""vampire vision glasses"" (to read hidden messages) a cardboard bat mobile, a pair of ""snake earrings"" and a miniature board game with a spinner as well as pop-ups Continue reading »
Created in association with the American Museum of Natural History, two Flip Out and Learn books by Christine Corning Malloy, illus. by Aaron Leighton, introduce science and nature topics tucked Continue reading »
Christmas Is Coming! by Claire Masurel, illus. by Marie H. Henry, also a board book, captures a child's anticipation. Juliette and her stuffed animals trim the tree and hang the stockings, but Continue reading »
A vivid and arresting jacket, numerous full-page, full-color illustrations and a distinctively spaced text delivered entirely in captioned dialogue, like a play, make this charming book an Continue reading »
Photographer Valfre, who chronicled a cross-country drive in Backseat Buckaroo, takes his camera on another family road trip. Humans aren't alone on the highway, however; a ""flying saucer"" sails Continue reading »
The second of this publisher's pair of new novellas (see The Forty Fathom Bank , above), Knowles's disturbing debut explores the strange spell cast by the camera obscura, a room-size camera whose Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
As a bus progresses on its route to the garage, where it will park for the night, various travelersactors, commuters, familieshop off at their stops. When a number of riders is named (for example, 10 Continue reading »
Sommers, who runs the Illustration Gallery in New York, showing the work of illustrators only, invited more than eighty artists to provide pictorial recipes for this book. Some of the concoctions are Continue reading »
Readers learn how to play ""Fourteen Out,"" ""Captive Queens"" or ""Klondike"" in Lucky 13: Solitaire Games for Kids by Michael Street, illus. by Alan Tiegreen. Offering over 65 ways to play, the Continue reading »
Slater's enchanting debut puts magic-realist devices to good use as it uncovers a complex family history. The interwoven narratives start in 1989, in Oakland, where 29-year-old single mother Julia Continue reading »
Rovetch (Sweet Dreams Little One) composes repetitive chants around single-syllable words, and the results are as catchy as they are vapid. The author creates Continue reading »
This latest entry in the Little Books cooking series offers 30 recipes meant to showcase the ``bounty of exotic and delectable foods found nowhere else in North America.'' Yet British-born Floridian Continue reading »
First published in Britain in 1989 and making its first appearance on American shores, book one of the Deptford Mice Trilogy is a spooky and enthralling animal fantasy just right for Redwall fans. In Continue reading »
Timing is everything; bad timing is nothing for jazz legend Edgar DeWeese Carnes and narrator Henry McKernan in Huddle's (Only the Little Bone) disappointingly unjazzy novella, one of the publisher's Continue reading »
Good Day for Soup: Over 200 Recipes for Any Occasion
Jeannette Ferrary, Chronicle Books
The nearly universal appeal of soups, the authors' lively prose style and the use of varied typefaces hold promise for this collection that is on the whole limited by the puzzling design approaches Continue reading »
Two board books by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober introduce the works of world-renowned artists to the youngest audience. In each, lyrical text accompanies 10 masterpieces. A Magical Day with Continue reading »
This book tells of the friendship between Isak Dinesen and Kamante, who served as the writer's majordomo during her years in Kenya. Kamante's narratives, translated from Swahili by his sons, are Continue reading »
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: A Traditional Lullaby
Jane Taylor, Sylvia Long
Youngsters well know the opening lines of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Sylvia Long revisits the classic and includes the traditional verses ""When the blazing sun is gone,/ When he nothing shines Continue reading »
Dahan's deliciously glib text belies antic illustrations as three little pigs break the rules of a public park in Paris. Their improprieties come to light via Squiggle the piglet's enthusiastic Continue reading »
A mysterious but classic work of Chinese literature exerts an influence on an unusual love triangle in this beguiling new novel by Australian writer Jose (The Rose Crossing). In Jose's stylish Continue reading »
Big Sur to Big Basin: California's Dramatic Central Coast
Chronicle Books
Combining breathtaking landscape photographs with glowing, tour-guide-like descriptions, this coffee-table book is an excellent peek into one of the most gorgeous locations in the country. Cain takes Continue reading »
The Web site Nerve.com pitches itself as ""literate smut,"" and this serious-looking book seems to be a logical step in its dot-diversification. In fact, there is nothing new about ""The New Nude,"" Continue reading »
Simmons, a former editor at the New York Times Book Review, made his name as a writer with a series of surreal comic novels, including Powdered Eggs and Wrinkles, but the present book, a Continue reading »
Budding pastry chefs (and pastry tasters) will easily see their way to a yummy confection by turning the pages of Meijer's clever concoction. Three tiny, toque-wearing cooks serve as guides through Continue reading »
MODERN GREEK: 170 Contemporary Recipes from the Mediterranean
Andy Harris, Chronicle Books
Harris (A Taste of the Aegean) returns to the Greek cuisine he loves in this beautifully designed and photographed book. Using customary Greek Continue reading »
Books Inc Marquand, Harold B. Nelson, Chronicle Books
This appealing but brief illustrated survey of American paintings of the sea by Nelson, director of the Long Beach (Calif.) Museum of Art, opens with work that depicts human mastery of nature, and Continue reading »
The right tools, a lot of encouragement and a few handily proffered Band-Aids work wonders in this jaunty debut. Lulu the hippo and Fred the rabbit are friends, but it drives Fred crazy that Lulu Continue reading »
Youngest children can have a turn at the wheel in Drive This Book by Wernher Krutein and Bill Goidell. If they press a tire on each of 10 vehicles, they can hear the engines roar, including an Continue reading »
There is no need to sweat over a hot stove, Warner (All the Best Pasta Sauces; All the Best Pizza) says, when you can prepare simple yet often elegant pasta sauces that don't require cooking. To Continue reading »
Although well-researched, this version of a popular Hispanic tale is hobbled by inept illustrations and a low-energy text. The plot line is common to many folktales: a magical creature (here, a Continue reading »
Clifford, who served as a combat helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, revisited the country for extended periods after 1985, accompanied by Vietnamese guide/interpreter Nguyen Duc Quang. Continue reading »
Four Seasons Pasta: A Year of Inspired Recipes in the Italian Tradition
Janet Kessel Fletcher, Chronicle Books
An award-winning food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle pairs pasta with seasonal vegetables in a succinct collection of recipes that should become a family standby. Focusing on fava beans in Continue reading »
In The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide, Terry Whitlatch and Bob Carrau offer a faux naturalist's sketchbook of the fauna born of George Lucas and co.'s considerable imagination: the Continue reading »
The charming and self-assured feline introduced in Milton is back in Milton Goes to the Vet by Hayd Ardalan. Worn out after his trip to the vet (which wasn't as bad as Milton had expected), the Continue reading »
Starting where her Spirits of the Ordinary ended, near the time of the Mexican Revolution, the disappointing second volume of Alcal 's projected trilogy chronicles three generations of women Continue reading »
This oversize, attractive study examines the lives and oeuvres of six plein-air painters who worked in northern California early in this century and who called themselves the Society of Six or the Continue reading »
Sweet treats in simple shapes-nougats and brittles in coins, balls, squares and logs-form the bulk of the 50 recipes featured by Bloom, a well-known teacher of confectionery arts. Bloom encourages Continue reading »
Lisa Lebowitz Cader, Chronicle Books, Lisa Lebowitz
A trio of interactive offerings encourages youngster's participation. Royal headdress empowers common kids-plus readers-in When I Wear My Tiara and When I Wear My Crown, both by Lisa Lebowitz Continue reading »
The Pigglytoes family has different ideas about what makes Christmas special, but baby piglet understands that it doesn't come wrapped in a box. A.J. Wood's rhyming text and Maggie Kneen's Continue reading »
Seeking out deli food from around the world (and from among her family's ``heirloom'' recipes), but specifically inspired by the Broadway Deli of Los Angeles, of which she is a partner, Zeidler (The Continue reading »
While some decry the consumption of red meat as a vice practiced by people with no concern for their physical well-being, health-conscious carnivores will appreciate McNair's (Chicken) book, if with Continue reading »
The Halloween Activity Book: Creepy, Crawly, Hairy, Scary Things to Do
Mymi Doinet, Chronicle Books
Designed in the rounded shape of a pumpkin, The Halloween Activity Book: Creepy, Crawly, Hairy, Scary Things to Do by Mymi Doinet, illus. by Benjamin Chaud, opens with a brief history of the Continue reading »
A BARN IN NEW ENGLAND: Making a Home on Three Acres
Joseph Monninger, Chronicle Books
Gleaming like the sun hitting the 6,000-square-foot barn that gives Monniger's life—and the book—its mooring, this polished memoir follows the seasons, beginning in winter when Continue reading »
Juvenile geniuses will enjoy Mensa Mind Mazes for Kids. The resealable card deck contains 75 puzzles printed back to back on colorful laminated cards; in treasure hunt-style, each answer points Continue reading »
Baby-boomers with nostalgia for their childhoods and trivia buffs might enjoy this detailed account of kiddie lunch boxes that is thoroughly illustrated with more than 100 color photographs. In his Continue reading »
Bob Barner, Design Inc Higashi/Glaser, Chronicle Books
Using a classic African American spiritual as a springboard, Barner dives gleefully into this clever anatomy lesson. Enthusiastic members of a skeleton band cavort across the pages, strumming Continue reading »
Experienced spellers may well rethink reading in this provocative alphabet, originally published in France as Animaux, which substitutes abstract shapes for Continue reading »
With brief, accessible text, engaging topics and a perforated page of collectible cards Seymour Simon's See More Reader series will rope in even the most reluctant readers. According to Danger! Continue reading »
Originally published in 1973 and long out of print, this is Graham's account of his expedition to Lake Rudolf in Kenya to study the remaining Nile crocodile population there. The author, a Continue reading »
Displaying California's ``vast geographic diversity, and the variety of ways in which its writers and artists responded to the challenge of its landscape,'' this anthology--a travel book as much as a Continue reading »
A beautiful cookbook with impressive photographs, Morgan's volume contains many tasty recipes, but it's not really a complete introduction to salmon. A number of her dishes are influenced by Continue reading »
Whether your tomato sauce of choice is raw, cooked, sweet, racy, buttery, velvety, chunky, fruity, complex or simple, Croce (Pasta Classica) makes it clear that certain principles adhere. An ardent Continue reading »
Nelson K. Cabra, Katherine E. Nelson, Chronicle Books
Top designers enjoy celebrity status in Scandinavian culture, and no wonder--their creations have invaded almost every living space within reach of an IKEA. But the region's old emphasis on plain Continue reading »
Finished with crackle-grain varnish, Jay's (Picture This) droll and distinctive paintings add a winning component to this updated rendition of Aesop's Continue reading »
Fairy Friends Bedtime turns magical in Good Night, Fairies by Kathleen Hague, illus. by Michael Hague, as a mother answers her child's questions about what fairies do at nighttime. The parent Continue reading »
Ink, Paper, Metal, Wood: Painters and Sculptors at Crown Point Press
Kathan Brown, Chronicle Books
Founded by Brown in 1962, Crown Point Press of San Francisco has served as a printmaking workshop for many well-known contemporary painters and sculptors. This informal scrapbook, splicing interviews Continue reading »
Roxie Munro uses eye-popping artwork to lead readers on a drive to the zoo in Mazescapes. Children are invited to navigate through aerial mazes with any of six punch-out cars; each maze connects Continue reading »
Lankford, who was born in Oklahoma in 1951, isn't famous, nor does he know anyone who is. Like legions of teenagers before him, he fell in love with rock and roll and chose to play the drums. He Continue reading »
""Dog was a dog and that's what everyone called him. Dog. Just Dog."" So starts Oram's (Badger's Bad Mood) story of a pooch who longs for a ""proper name."" After all, as he complains to Midnight the Continue reading »
Taik left Burma in 1972, but luckily has brought a knowledge of its spiced yet subtle cuisine to a new home in America, and now shares it. Like the multiethnic Burmese themselves, Burmese food Continue reading »
The Museum of Modern Art's Art Safari Collarge Activity Kit
Joyce Raimondo, Chronicle Books
Matisse also figures prominently in The Museum of Modern Art's Art Safari Collage Activity Kit by Joyce Raimondo, former Family Programs Coordinator at the Museum of Modern Art. Focusing on Continue reading »
A little book in a large format, this collects bits of folklore, information, and inspiration about flowers, as well as many full-color photographs of flower arrangements. It is organized loosely by Continue reading »
Beneath the wacky, kitschy veneer of designer, vintage-clothes hawker and style writer Maranian's latest book (he also authored Pad, a book about funky interior design), lies the heart of a Continue reading »
It takes a trip to outer space and a case of role reversal to give a boy bored with his pets some perspective. One day, while searching for ever-more-novel animals, pet-collector Stanley is petnapped Continue reading »
With brief, accessible text, engaging topics and a perforated page of collectible cards Seymour Simon's See More Reader series will rope in even the most reluctant readers. According to Danger! Continue reading »
Cole ( Supermoo ) unleashes her endearingly loony sense of humor on the subject of the birds and the bees, and the result is, as expected, hilarious. When a thoroughly befuddled set of '90s parents Continue reading »
Readers who enjoyed their trip Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee will look forward to A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen. Mr. Magee and his dog Dee are in for another unexpectedly wild Continue reading »
French author/illustrator Corentin suggests that the definition of ""monster"" is all relative, and that monsters may be as afraid of us as we are of them. This volume, which is rather bland despite Continue reading »
Joan L. Margalith, Chronicle Books, Joan Margolith
Babies don't need the stork to facilitate their arrival--they simply fall gently to earth in baskets, like raindrops--according to this compact gift book (the frontispiece provides a space to write a Continue reading »
Soto is one of our most accomplished Mexican-American poets under the age of 45. In this collection, poems from six of his previous 13 books (The Tale of Sunlight; Home Course in Religion) and a Continue reading »
From a solar electric bus to fashions made from recycled inner tubes, EcoDesign: The Sourcebook showcases some of the most innovative, environmentally friendly products and prototypes from around Continue reading »
Linda Bourke puts a decidedly different spin on the counting-book genre with her ingenious Eye Count: A Book of Counting Puzzles. Full-spread illustrations depict objects that are either homophones Continue reading »
What do native Nantucket Islanders do during the winter when the summer visitors aren't looking? It turns out that they're doing quite a lot of sophisticated dining. Simon (The Nantucket Table), a Continue reading »
In his informative but uninspired survey, Hopkins, director of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, provides a necessarily schematic overview of those historical developments and Continue reading »
Strickland (Going the Distance: The Pacific Northwest Trail interviewed 39 Vermonters who talk about themselves and the way things used to be (and in some parts of the state still are). Agnes Continue reading »
VIVA LA VIDA: Festive Recipes for Entertaining Latin-Style
Rafael Palomino, Arlen Gargagliano, Chronicle Books
Nuevo Latino cooking is still waiting for its breakthrough cookbook, and while this effort from Palomino (Bistro Latino) and writer Gargagliano lacks the heft Continue reading »
The spunky redheaded third-grader steals the show when she plays an artichoke in her school play, then follows up with a role as a swamp monster in a high school student's low-budget horror Continue reading »
Long before the '60s drug revolution introduced psychedelics to the general public, they were indulged in by writers, artists and visionaries looking for entry into mystical worlds these drugs Continue reading »
Yves Got's Sam series continues with the oversize paper-overboard lift-the-flap book Where's Sam? Here, Sam plays a dual game of dress-up and hide-and-seek. For ""Who is hiding behind the Continue reading »
A familiar nursery rhyme takes a decidedly dark turn in this sobering picture book. Written in a hip - hop rhythm and based on ``The House That Jack Built,'' the new cumulative rhyme focuses Continue reading »
Crumpets, brown bread ice-cream and Northumberland ``Singin' Hinny'' are among the morsels proposed for an English tea in this decorous midget of a book (4 5). But recipes, charmingly illustrated, Continue reading »
The round-faced children in this inviting, large-format volume are busy indeed--demonstrating just about every action word known to children. In a style suggestive of Richard Scarry, each word is Continue reading »
THE BIG BOOK OF EASY SUPPERS: 270 Delicious Recipes for Casual Everyday Cooking
Maryana Vollstedt, Chronicle Books
Food columnist Vollstedt's latest entry in her Big Book cookbook series (Casseroles, Breakfast, Potluck, Soups & Stews) is invaluable, as it contains an enormous assortment of Continue reading »
""Would you rather... your dad did a dance at school or your mom made a fuss in a caf ?"" John Burningham poses many more questions in Would You Rather... Humorous (and thought-provoking) Continue reading »
Robert D. San Souci, Chronicle Books, Robet D. San Souci
With a princess who is not only kind but prefers "good books to good looks," San Souci's (The Talking Eggs
) clever adaptation of the classic British Continue reading »
The work of Kahlo (1907-1954), a Mexican painter of painful, irresistible power, comes to life in the brooding self-portraits, potent parables of nature, and politically charged mythologies Continue reading »
So perfect are the Pre-Raphaelite details and gestures that it's easy to imagine Kinuko Craft's (Adventures of Tom Thumb) paintings hanging in a gallery. Continue reading »
Just when it seems there could be nothing new to say about the cuisine of Italy or the slow food movement that was born there, Goldstein dazzles with this selection of soups, stews, roasts, sauces Continue reading »
This sequel to PeeWee's Tale
follows Lexi the squirrel and PeeWee the guinea pig as they pair up to help a homeless man in Manhattan's Central Park. Continue reading »
Bunny Sam returns in the padded-cover board book Sam's Christmas Word Book by Yves Got. With their thick black line and toy-bright colors, the cheerily childlike illustrations have something of Continue reading »
More than 60 gorgeous color illustrations of Butterfield's horse sculptures appear in this book, which includes a captivating interview and a thought-provoking critique. The horses here, created Continue reading »
Two energetic, shadowy-black canines romp through the pages of this offbeat travelogue from newcomer Knapp. Astro is a pensive pooch who ""ponders blades of grass, half empty food bowls, and Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
If Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard had illustration software for the Noisy Books, they might have created these two volumes. Verlander's twin debuts include oversize, emotive Continue reading »
Big Trucks and Diggers Nesting Blocks [With 10 Nesting Blocks]
Chronicle Books, Caterpillar
An inspired addition to the Nesting Blocks line, Big Trucks and Diggers Nesting Blocks by Caterpillar will thrill budding builders. Ten rugged cardboard blocks each feature a numbered Continue reading »
Climbing Vines: Simple Secrets for Glorious Gardens
Mimi Luebbermann, Chronicle Books
Part of the publisher's Garden Style series, Luebbermann's book explores climbing vines from half a dozen different angles, discussing vines suitable for growing indoors, those that are colorful, Continue reading »
Martha Drexler Lynn, Los Angeles County Museum Of Art, Chronicle Books
Highlighting a portion of the 20th-century ceramics collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this handsome book showcases both the functional and sculptural aspects of the clay medium, Continue reading »
At 30, Eleanor May ""Bean"" Shank, the loquaciously cynical narrator of this meandering novel, decides to leave her alcoholic, cheating boyfriend and boring bank job behind. Tucked into her suitcase Continue reading »
Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon
Nina Laden, Chronicle Books
This tale of an investigator who tracks down an elusive chameleon, at the request of a lizard in distress, features bold pastel illustrations. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Continue reading »
A guinea pig narrates Hurwitz's (One Small Dog) endearing story of the furry fellow's adventures in New York's Central Park. Nine-year-old Robbie, though disappointed when his uncle gives him a Continue reading »
In Long's faithful retelling of Ander-sen's tale, the tiny Thumbelina is courted by a succession of appalling suitors—a toad, a beetle, and a pompous mole—but escapes a life Continue reading »
Of the 84 soups, potages, marmites and more that Rothert draws from 17 Gallic regions, some are unusual twists on tradition (Cabbage Soup with Walnut Oil) and others have stood for many Continue reading »
With brief, accessible text, engaging topics and a perforated page of collectible cards Seymour Simon's See More Reader series will rope in even the most reluctant readers. According to Danger! Continue reading »
How the act of visual representation affects what we see--a theme of Hockney's paintings--is a major concern of this lively, unpretentious memoir edited by his friend Stango, who is an editor at the Continue reading »
Delightfully courtly, flowery but not dated, Sabatini's period romances--Scaramouche unfolds over the years leading up to the French Revolution--were deservedly popular when originally published, Continue reading »
``If this business don't give us a living we will go and squat on some government land and raise spuds.'' This forlorn statement by Watkins (1829-1916), a pioneering photographer who began his career Continue reading »
Homemade Christmas: Creative Crafts for Santa's Elves
Chronicle Books
A companion to Homemade Halloween, the stylish, small-format Homemade Christmas: Creative Crafts for Santa's Elves comes with sparkly and decorative paper, stickers and stencils. Instructions are Continue reading »
Barner (Dem Bones) creates an enthusiastic book crawling with splashy bugs. From the eager, impatient first line--""Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! I want to see bugs!""--the book's narrative voice grabs Continue reading »
Nick Jr. characters abound in a trio of titles, along with gizmos and gimmicks that make them more than your average books. My Chalkboard Book: Write and Draw with Chalk includes four pieces of chalk Continue reading »
Taylor's latest collection of hilarious and often poignant essays is as bracing as a cool drink on a hot day. Using the same format he plied in Tools of the Trade (1996), Taylor zeroes in on a couple Continue reading »
When Señor Calavera, a dapper skeleton in a bowler hat, comes to call on Grandma Beetle, she puts him off with her quick thinking and her charming manner. "I will go with you right Continue reading »
Joosse (Mama, Do You Love Me?) embarks on a rambling road as she follows a 19th-century father and son traveling from their home by the Wisconsin River to Santa Fe, where they plan to sell their Continue reading »
The phrase, ""When I grow up, I want to be...,"" typically precedes a career choice, but in this amiable debut volume, Harper fills in the blank with qualities like ""brave"" and ""determined."" Each Continue reading »
Although you wouldn’t know it from typical cowboy stories and movies, about a quarter of actual cowhands were African-American, and this is the story of the most famous of them, the champion horse Continue reading »
Bad Stuff in the News: A Guide to Handling the Headlines
Marc Gellman, Chronicle Books, Rabbi Marc Gellman
Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman, the team behind How Do You Spell God?, speak directly to tweens and teens in Bad Stuff in the News: A Guide to Handling the Headlines. Beginning Continue reading »
Dunham's second anthology surpasses her handsome The Art of the Trout Fly in format and text (also price), while falling a little short of the inspired photographic stylings that were the charm of Continue reading »
Duggleby (Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood) once again enlarges upon themes in an American artist's life and work to create a gratifying portrait of a particular time and place. Lawrence's Continue reading »
Rosemary E. Scott, Percival David Foundation Of Chinese Art, Chronicle Books
Smitten by the riches of the Imperial Collection, connoisseur Sir Percival David (1892-1964) braved the ``insuperable obstacles'' posed by rival Chinese collectors--and the chicaneries of the Chinese Continue reading »
The Illuminated Lettering Kit: Materials, Techniques, & Projects for Decorative Calligraphy
George Thomson, Chronicle Books
In medieval times, monks spent years translating and reproducing texts for church libraries, and they often embellished their script with ""gilded patterns or designs,"" giving birth to the art of Continue reading »
As orangutans slip into further endangerment due to poaching (mothers are shot in order that babies may be taken as pets) and destruction of their habitat, books such as this may inspire a backdraft Continue reading »
This collection of large, vibrant photographs of Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, India, effectively promotes awareness of their plight. In the introduction, the Dalai Lama asserts Tibet's rightful Continue reading »
HReaders raised on L'Engle's thoughtful novels (A Wrinkle in Time) will discover a new side of the writer in this impish, tongue-in-cheek memoir. Ostensibly the L'Engle family poodle's account of the Continue reading »
James McNair's New Pizza: Foolproof Techniques and Fabulous Recipes
James K. McNair, Chronicle Books
With a plethora of pizza cookbooks on the market, any new contender has to survive by promising either trade secrets or the trendiest pie permutations. Despite a brief introduction on pizza history, Continue reading »
This volume does not feature ordinary asanas. In fact, according to the opening note, "It isn't even really yoga." This mind-bending collection of photographs and word play, presented Continue reading »
Just in time for summer family road trips, two sets of cards aim to keep kids occupied in the back seat: Let's Go! A Nick Jr. Travel Deck and Hit the Road! A Nickelodeon Travel Deck. In the first Continue reading »
The architect Filippo Brunelleschi and his influence on Renaissance Florence are the twin subjects of this highly specialized pop-up book. Bender's informative text elaborates on aspects of design Continue reading »
Photos of objects beyond the detection of the human eye--either because they are infinitesimal, too large, too far away or hidden inside the human body--are reproduced with remarkable clarity in Continue reading »
A domestic region, defined by time rather than geography, is plumbed in Chronicle's Patio Daddy-o: `50's Recipes with a `90's Twist. Authors Gideon Bosker, Karen Brooks, Leland Payton and Crystal Continue reading »
Twelve recipes stock this short but solid cookbook, an appealing digression from standard American grilling, and good company for other specialty grilling guides. The work--which includes an Continue reading »
THE DISTANT LAND OF MY FATHER: A Novel of Shanghai
Bo Caldwell, Chronicle Books
Caldwell's memoirlike first novel begins in 1930s Shanghai, a city where enterprising foreign entrepreneurs can quickly become millionaires—and just as quickly lose everything as Continue reading »
""We're just another army. We all look alike,"" confesses the angel in Allan Gurganus's ""It Had Wings."" But they don't--not in the 31 stories and poems of this quirky, very literate anthology Continue reading »
A father tells his daughter about her departed mother in Dawn by Molly Bang, an adaptation of the Japanese legend of the Crane Wife set in 19th-century New England. PW s boxed review, when the Continue reading »
With 68 7 1/2"" x 11"" b&w engravings that include helicopters, parking lots, shwarma stands, strip malls, chain-link fences, concrete stairs and skyscrapers, Dante's Inferno is brought into the Continue reading »
The American editor of Kurokawa's striking picture book--first published in Japan--says, ``Imagine living, breathing, noisy animals rather than the quiet, dusty skeletons you see in museums.'' Continue reading »
Newcomers Levin and Shepherd propose that polite behavior might be different in the animal kingdom. "If your mom had a tail/ or your father a mane,/ the rules of your house/ might not be such Continue reading »
Those who have mastered the essentials of cooking, welcome challenges and relish so-called ``upscale cuisine'' will revel in this lavishly illustrated volume by the author of Cold Pasta. Every recipe Continue reading »
Created in association with the American Museum of Natural History, two Flip Out and Learn books by Christine Corning Malloy, illus. by Aaron Leighton, introduce science and nature topics tucked Continue reading »
Andrew Moore's large-format color photographs offer breathtaking views of the Cuban capital's crumbling baroque splendor in Inside Havana. The photographs, a mix of street scenes and interiors, Continue reading »
Printed in rich duotone, Schatz's ( Seeing Red ) new book of photographs of San Francisco's homeless is fairly dripping with nobility. But the mood is brave, heartening, beneficent. Trying to capture Continue reading »
Nina Laden follows her popular Peek-a-WHO? and Ready, Set, GO! with Grow Up! The text asks readers to guess what a variety of young animals will grow up to be, and die-cut holes hint at the Continue reading »
With a colloquial voice and ethical sense, Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic Temko has offered careful, wide-ranging observations of Northern California for the past Continue reading »
Stylishly designed with eye-catching page layouts and beautiful images, this history of the""the wasp"" will delight any Vespa aficionado. The late Roberto Segoni, professor of industrial design at Continue reading »
Mary Corpening Barber, Chronicle Books, Sara Corpening Whiteford
Just in time for the June wedding season, Barber and Whiteford have collected 125 elegant recipes especially for newlyweds. These twin sisters, authors of Cocktail Continue reading »
Cooking Secrets of the CIA: Favorite Recipes from the Culinary Institute
Culinary Institute of America, Chronicle Books
No threat to national security, this companion volume to an upcoming PBS series featuring the highly regarded culinary teaching institution is instead quite reassuring. Selected by C.I.A.-trained Continue reading »
For those heading back to preschool and kindergarten, Sam's Big Book of Words by Yves Got features the busy bunny exploring the world around him. Each spread focuses on a heading (such as ""The Continue reading »
Lisa Lebowitz Cader, Chronicle Books, Lisa Lebowitz
A trio of interactive offerings encourages youngster's participation. Royal headdress empowers common kids-plus readers-in When I Wear My Tiara and When I Wear My Crown, both by Lisa Lebowitz Continue reading »
This handsome collection of baseball artifacts from 1880 onward is a treat for the baseball aficionado. A focus on equipment explains, for instance, that early gloves ``were not used for catching, Continue reading »
A herd of cattle stampeding across the endpapers hints at the subject of this feisty picture book, in which a boy breaks in a shiny new pair of cowboy boots. Pleased as punch with his footgear, Tyler Continue reading »
Old-fashioned, often broken typeface and Arthur Rackham's gloriously reproduced original artwork accompany 22 stories in a new edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales, originally published in 1909. A Continue reading »
Big Noisy Trucks and Diggers [With Batteries Included and 5 Sound Buttons]
Chronicle Books, Caterpillar
The sights and sounds of a construction site come to life in Big Noisy Trucks and Diggers. Children take the driver's seat as the text, along with road sign cues, tells them what to do while Continue reading »
Spirit Child: A Story of the Nativity, trans. by John Bierhorst, illus. by Barbara Cooney, and originally published in 1984, relates an ancient Aztec tale that dates back to the 16th century. Continue reading »
This small vegetarian gathering was inspired during Jung's two-week course of meditation at the Kopan monastery near Kathmandu, Nepal; a portion of the proceeds from her book will return to its Continue reading »
Waggish gouache paintings and a playful, cursive typeface rev up Hubbard's (Hip Cat) rendition of the traditional cumulative carol. Four ""calling"" birds squawking to one another on the telephone Continue reading »
In the introduction to this collection, inspired by traditional Mother Goose rhymes, Nigerian-born Unobagha says that she hopes these verses about Africa will deliver ""important cultural messages to Continue reading »
Award-winning Devi (James Beard Best International Cookbook award for Yamuna's Table, 1992; the IACP Cookbook of the Year award for 1988's Lord Krishna's Cuisine) contributes a volume that takes its Continue reading »
In this lithe tale from a French team, a lonely porcupine gains confidence when he finds love. Like many a misunderstood hero, Mr. Fine has a scary appearance that doesn't match his amiable Continue reading »
Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Chronicle Books, Karen Elizabeth
The conceit behind this playful, charming spoof of a book is as simple and bizarre as a Magritte painting: it is a guide to an imaginary Paris, complete with fake hotel listings, off-the-wall travel Continue reading »
Sensitive reportage and keen photography are effective complements in this charming and informative sea travelogue. Through these pages, readers will visit rustic cargo vessels in remote portsfrom Continue reading »
Anyone who cooks for vegetarians and ominovores can sympathize with William Ralph Inge: ""It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism, while the wolf remains of a Continue reading »
McNair (Cold Pasta, etc.) demonstrates that the versatile fowl is an international favorite with Thai spicy chicken coconut soup; Japanese boiled chicken with sesame dipping sauce; Hungarian chicken Continue reading »
In this dubious spoof, Laden (When Pigasso Met Mootisse
) gives the Bard's tragedy a happy ending and cats-versus-dogs households. Romeow, a cat belonging to Continue reading »
The first half of this wry, meditative collection brings us through Soto's boyhood and teenage years and his tentatively evolving spiritual and sensual awareness. There is the usual kid's stuff Continue reading »
Peter Steinhart, Tupper Ansel Blake, Chronicle Books
Near Greys Harbor, Wash., 350,000 shorebirds alight and feed on eight acres of mud flats; they are among millions that follow a migration routethe Pacific Flywayfrom the western Arctic to Costa Rica. Continue reading »
This book's endpapers trumpet a corny musical theme, performed by a parade of grinning mice: "If Mount Fuji blows its stack,/ If a monster should attack,/ Don't just hide inside your Continue reading »
In this gracefully narrated, arrestingly illustrated myth originating from the Karuk people of Northwest California, the animals have no fire to keep them warm. Wise old Coyote devises a plan to Continue reading »
Debut author Thong cleverly uses a concept book to celebrate Chinese culture. ""Round is a mooncake/ Round is the moon/ Round are the lanterns/ outside my room,"" explains the unnamed young heroine Continue reading »
Easy Roses: Secrets for Glorious Gardens- Indoors and Out
Georgeanne Brennan, Chronicle Books
Part of the publisher's Garden Style series, this book is indeed stylish, but it's also insubstantial. Brennan (Beautiful Bulbs) offers helpful encouragement to neophyte rose growers but Continue reading »
A near-fatal accident in the dark of night—30-year-old Lizzy is struck in a hit-and-run—sets in motion a complicated, surprising story of love, loss and sacrifice. When Lizzy was two, Continue reading »
The first effort by bookseller Rose (founder of Cook's Library in L.A.) and journalist Strand partially succeeds as it offers a dozen menus (three per season, one each for parties of two, four and Continue reading »
In this uneven autobiography, leading conservative activist Liebman chronicles the closeted homosexual life that he lived while pursuing his very public career. In 1990, after 40 years at the Continue reading »
Picnics: Delicious Recipes for Outdoor Entertaining
Sara Deseran, Chronicle Books
Cheerful and appealingly sized (just small enough that it could actually be taken on a picnic), this book by Deseran (Asian Vegetables) contains more than 45 recipes for picnic fare that go far Continue reading »
Colors, Counting, Shapes!: A Shape Sorter Box15 Shaped Books in a Sorting Box!
Chronicle Books, Nickelodeon
Youngest Nick Jr. fans can learn colors, numbers and shapes with Colors, Counting, Shapes!: 15 Shaped Books in a Sorting Box! From the ""box,"" ""picture frame,"" and ""quilt"" on the spreads of Continue reading »
Anyone whose vegetable patch has become overrun by squash must seek new ways to cook and eat the bounty, and McNair provides valuable guidance in selecting, handling and cooking squash's many Continue reading »
With colder weather around the corner, parents will soon be scrambling for constructive projects to occupy house-bound children. This pair of inventive craft books from Germany are a welcome addition Continue reading »
HAMPTONS BOHEMIA: Two Centuries of Artists and Writers on the Beach
Helen A. Harrison, Chronicle Books, Constance Ayers
Though the title may provoke a good-natured scoff in people familiar with Long Island's tony, increasingly suburban East End, this lovely coffee-table volume, which charts the area's Continue reading »
Yoked together like a pair of contrary mules, Bates's 19th-century patriotic poem and Thiebaud's 20th-century irony-tinged art tug in opposite directions. At first, Thiebaud's bold, representational Continue reading »
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
Norton Juster, Chronicle Books, N. Juster
Originally published in 1963, and back just in time for Valentine's Day, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster (The Phantom Tollbooth) once again bursts on the scene. Continue reading »
In her enigmatic self-portraits, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) depicted herself as an enchanting, exotic yet martyred woman, and these candid letters, written between 1924 and 1948, flesh Continue reading »
Creepily realistic, the photographic tableaux that illustrate this otherwise mundane tale are hard to resist. Hollywood special effects whiz Yagher here creates a miniature world peopled by elves, Continue reading »
LEGENDS OF TEXAS BARBECUE: Recipes and Collections from Pit Bosses
Robb Walsh, Chronicle Books
Not every cookbook would include a recipe that begins, "Dig a pit 3-feet-deep, 4-feet-wide, and 40-feet-long." But this is Texas and, given 300 pounds of brisket, there is no more Continue reading »
""There are few people who would want to visit me in my present state,"" writes the pseudonymous narrator Ashby. ""Maybe no one."" Unfortunately, that includes readers who may come expecting to Continue reading »
Few drinks conjure the cultural associations and charged atmospheres that absinthe does, even now, some 70 years after its ban in Europe and the U.S. Freelance writer Conrad sees absinthe ``as a Continue reading »
In a thoughtful opening note, Long (Liplap's Wish) explains that she saw no point in creating a new Mother Goose collection ""unless I could find ways to make it unique."" She fulfills her mission in Continue reading »
Drawing Trucks and Diggers: A Book of 10 Stencils [With Ten Different Stencils]
Chronicle Books, Caterpillar
Aspiring artists can learn how to draw a ""Track-Type Tractor"" and a ""Soil Compactor"" in the spiral-bound volume Drawing Trucks and Diggers, A Book of 10 Stencils. Each die-cut stencil page Continue reading »
A ""horse of sun"" becomes a horse of smoke and later one of music in this simply worded poem about a girl traveling the earth and sky on a sturdy brown stallion. The setting of the fantasy is south Continue reading »
This tiny, quirky volume of original black-and-white photographs illustrating the unpleasant episodes of an average day has its own clever charm, but who would want to relive such irritations as a Continue reading »
An edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll contains all of Arthur Rackham's original artwork from the 1907 edition (published after Sir John Tenniel's illustrations). Continue reading »
The Mediterranean Herb Cookbook: Fresh and Savory Recipes from the Mediterranean Garden
Georgeanne Brennan, Chronicle Books
Moving beyond the French table (Potager: Fresh Garden Cooking in the French Style; The Food and Flavors of Haute Provence), Brennan explores the light and easy side of Mediterranean-herb-inspired Continue reading »
The experience of the Chinese in America offers compelling analogies for U.S. immigrants of all backgrounds. Born in San Francisco's Chinatown, the author of Thousand Pieces of Gold notes the Continue reading »
Personable pachyderms populate this collection of 18 traditional nursery rhymes. Percy puts a mischievous spin on old favorites as he gives Miss Muffet, Little Boy Blue and Jack Sprat trunks, Continue reading »
Mini-Mart a la Carte: Tasty Recipes for the Convenience Store Connoisseur
Christopher Rouser, Victoria Traig, Chronicle Books
In a book that could make even the most daring foodies cringe, Rouser and Traig (co-author of Judaikitsch) provide more than 50 recipes for readers who wish to craft a meal out of items from the Continue reading »
The treats of the title are the gingerbread delights that Mexican adults imagine are beloved by their children because the kids laugh at the sight of the chubby cookies lined up on a baker's tray. Continue reading »
Graphic design is key in this petite volume, boldly illustrated in black and white. ""I am an exceptional cat,"" declares Milton, rolling on his back in a horizontal shot. ""I am extremely handsome Continue reading »
An enterprising boy builds a castle out of books in this fanciful tale, which shouts with potential but never quite finds its voice. As young architect Benjamin works in secret, his bibliophilic Continue reading »
A Frank Lloyd Wright dining table, a Michael Graves post-modern tea kettle and an Eero Saarinen organic chair might strike the casual browser as curiosities. Yet these architects, along with many Continue reading »
Combining the ever-popular dinosaur motif with a lesson on etiquette, debut author Martin imagines several of the prehistoric lizards in a contemporary human setting. Here, a suburban dino family Continue reading »
Guerrero's debut collection creates a fictional Mexican-American border town named Mesquite as the setting for most of its 11 stories. This imagined locale gains authenticity as the hopes, anguish Continue reading »
Jack and the Beanstalk/Juan y Los Frijoles Magicos
Francesc Bofill, Chronicle Books, Arnal Ballester
While these books' juxtaposition of English and Spanish texts may fill a need, the undistinguished retellings of familiar tales may deem the titles more suited to adult admirers of Spanish artist Continue reading »
Matthew Kenney's Mediterranean Cooking: Great Flavors for the American Kitchen
Matthew Kenney, Chronicle Books
Chef and restaurateur Kenney covers the entire Mediterranean rim, from Spain to Turkey, and then integrates the region's cooking in recipes that are imaginative and yet focused. He says he makes the Continue reading »
"In the author's debut novel, the eponymous star of this affecting reader is a pack llama-in-training who is destined for a different calling. What follows is a lyrical and wryly observed Continue reading »
Life in a small town in the rugged, lush and soaring Trinity Mountains of Northern California is the canvas for these breathtaking short stories. Whether the author is talking about a famous author Continue reading »
Centering around the Tiananmen Square massacre and its aftermath, this remarkably structured and textured debut epic seeks to attach a face to the mysterious man who, by stepping in front of the Continue reading »
Beekeepers, cooks and honey-lovers will cherish this charming, attractively designed volume. Style ( A Taste of Switzerland ), a cooking teacher and cookbook author, first learned about bees and Continue reading »
When Alfi wakes up in the middle of the night, he wonders out loud where the Dark goes when the lights are turned on. The Dark hears Alfi's question and agrees to answer him, but only after the boy Continue reading »
The creators of Visual Feast introduce six animals who peek through die-cut windows and lurk behind gate-fold pages in this inventively designed picture book. The volume opens with a spread of a Continue reading »
Just as miniature train sets and toy race tracks invite daydreaming, a suburban diorama inspires this disappointing story's title character. Albert loves his collection of toy cars, and wishes ""that Continue reading »
In the tradition of Jessica Harris's 1989 Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons, Cusick delves into the legacy of African immigrant cooking styles, tracing, for instance, the transformation of fiery rice-based Continue reading »
How to Be President: What to Do and Where to Go Once You're in Office
Stephen P. Williams, Chronicle Books
Dubya may already know the ropes, but John Kerry might find this handbook useful should he find himself residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next year. If the general state of affairs hasn't improved Continue reading »
The Final Reckoning: The Deptford Mice Trilogy: Book Three
Robin Jarvis, Chronicle Books
First came The Dark Portal, then The Crystal Prison. Now, Robin Jarvis winds up the Deptford Mice Trilogy with The Final Reckoning. In this volume, evil sewer cat Jupiter comes back from the dead Continue reading »
Apollo 11 Box: Artifacts from the First Moon Landing
Bob Craddock, Chronicle Books, Smithsonian Institution
Beautifully designed by Laura Lovett, Chronicle Books's latest clever gift box brings together reproductions of 16 artifacts from man's first trip to the moon. Among the goodies are a copy of the Continue reading »
The titular white bunny is back in two new board books: Sam's Little Sister and Sam Loves Kisses by Yves Got. In the first, Sam lists the things he and his sister, Sophie, do together. In the Continue reading »
Johnson (The Irish Heritage Cookbook) returns once more to her roots and food heritage, this time presenting a volume that showcases the best of the new Irish Continue reading »
Seibold and Walsh (Olive, the Other Reindeer), specialists in hip digital graphics and comic excess, expose the reveries of a flightless bird. Chongo Chingi the penguin initially appears against a Continue reading »
In this collaboration from the creators of Pegasus, Mayer's animated retelling of Tom Thumb's adventures and Craft's affectionate portrayal of the Continue reading »
The illustrator of Ten Little Rabbits introduces many more of her fetching bunnies in this spirited revival of Herford's turn-of-the-century poem. When a medieval bunny king ``Announced one day he Continue reading »
One of the two initial entries in this publisher's series of novellas (see The Secrets of the Camera Obscura , below), this odd yet engaging tale involves a young man afflicted with a ``hopelessness Continue reading »
Four experienced cooking instructors with an irresistible love of their subject go far toward teaching beginners in the kitchen to learn to cook and to learn to love cooking. Starting off with a Continue reading »
The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency from Around the World
David Standish, Chronicle Books
Beginning with the sunflowers on the Netherlands' 50-gulden note (Standish loves them) and ending with the redesigned American fives, tens and twenties (hates them), Standish's handsome, offbeat and Continue reading »
Nico, a boy, sets off to market to sell his Nan's 50 red, handmade nightcaps. Tired, he falls asleep on the forest floor. A band of mischievous and pesky monkeys steals his caps. Nico is at a loss to Continue reading »
Mangia, Little Italy!: Secrets from a Sicilian Family Kitchen
Francesca Romina, Chronicle Books
Scented with garlic and oregano, the traditional Sicilian red sauce, a long-cooked tomato-based staple, gives heat and life to many of the recipes recollected here. Romina, a cooking teacher who Continue reading »
Jonas and Nissenson ( The Ubiquitous Pig ) slyly present nostalgia with a subtext--many of their examples of phenomena which are disappearing, or already have disappeared, are gender-related. Each Continue reading »
This rather bland dialogue between a mother and son begins in a dim living room, where a TV illuminates the remains of dinner. In the doorway to an untidy hall, the ominous words "buzz, buzz, Continue reading »
Earthly animals gaze up at their constellation equivalents, each star bright with silver foil, in this handsomely illustrated paper-over-board book. Malone's (The Forest Child) still, shadowy gouache Continue reading »
The Merchant of Marvels: And the Peddler of Dreams
Frederic Clement, Chronicle Books
Frederic Clement's The Merchant of Marvels and the Peddler of Dreams (1995), trans. by Emma Cole, the tale of Frederick Knick-Knack and his quest for the perfect birthday gift for the friend who Continue reading »
Make no mistake about it, Shaw is serious about her subject: this may be the only cookbook that begins with an epigraph by Winston Churchill. Spurred by her family's history of heart disease, Shaw Continue reading »
A chrome kitchen table, a buttercream-yellow Studebaker and other campy 1950s accessories distinguish this ebullient picture book. At daybreak, Mr. Magee, sporting a spiffy straw boater, and his Continue reading »
A tepid first-person narrative introduces readers to the Bronte family as elder sister Charlotte recounts days spent on wild Yorkshire moors, ``dear Papa's'' sermons, and the children's growing Continue reading »
Former Gourmet
editor Longbotham never met a berry she didn't like. Strawberries are "summer's brightest jewel"; raspberries have "flesh Continue reading »
From ""Warm Finger Foods"" to ""Something Sweet,"" Ritchie, the host of Food Network's Ultimate Kitchens, makes harmonizing a diversity of small dishes seem like small potatoes. With sumptuous photos Continue reading »
The Games for Your Brain series adds two titles: Bug Cards by Tina Seelig and Dinosaur Cards by Seelig, illus. by Robert Walters. Combining learning and fun, each box of cards contains information Continue reading »
In this poetic ode to the night sky, Barner (Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!) gives a child's awestruck account of the stars and the solar system's nine planets. Continue reading »
Thor Heyerdahl, Christopher Ralling, Chronicle Books
In late 1936 explorer Heyerdahl set out from Norway for an island in the South Seas called Fatu Hiva. Eschewing the complications and corruptions of the civilized world, Heyerdahl planned to immerse Continue reading »
SCARRED FOR LIFE: Eleven Stories About Skateboarders
Keith Hamm, Chronicle Books
Despite the subtitle, this homegrown, lowdown book comprises a full-blown history of skateboarding through paradigmatic case studies. Former Santa Barbara Continue reading »
James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection
Tony Nourmand, Chronicle Books
Campy, sexy and legendary in their own right, the James Bond movie posters in this whopper of a compilation feature every movie from 1962's Dr. No to 1999's The World Is Not Enough. All the usual Continue reading »
New titles arrive in board book editions just right for small hands. Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses, by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben (the team behind the Gaspard and Lisa books), demonstrate Continue reading »
``With Hemingway, if you didn't like Spain there wasn't much else he wanted to talk to you about,'' writes Conrad ( Matador ), and though it is undoubtedly odd to tell of Hemingway's fascination with Continue reading »
Animal Instincts Alain Crozon hits the jungle for the latest addition to the Who Am I? What Am I? series, Who Am I? Wild Animals!, which features 21 animal riddles. On the left, three riddles fit Continue reading »
THE BIG BOOK OF SOUPS & STEWS: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food
Maryana Vollstedt, Chronicle Books
With its bold graphics, attractive cover and clear, concise recipes, Vollstedt's latest has all the signs of an interesting work. Unfortunately, unlike James Peterson's excellent primer Continue reading »
From folklore to poems and nursery rhymes, these diverse collections offer readers a host of traditional fare. Vintage illustrations add royal magic to Princess Stories: A Classic Illustrated Continue reading »
Once Upon a Lily Pad: Froggy Love in Monet's Garden
Joan Sweeney, Chronicle Books
Living among the water lilies of Monet's country home, frogs Hector and Henriette and their tadpoles happily ``pose'' for the bearded artist who paints their pond each day. First-time author Sweeny Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
The Games for Your Brain series adds two titles: Bug Cards by Tina Seelig and Dinosaur Cards by Seelig, illus. by Robert Walters. Combining learning and fun, each box of cards contains information Continue reading »
This pair's second collaboration-a quieter tale than their spirited Fire Race-focuses on Liplap, a winsome young rabbit who shapes a ``snowbunny'' after the winter's first snowfall. He wishes that Continue reading »
Through words and pictures, artist, writer and printer King melds the stories of two journeys--a trip to Europe in 1989 and the experience of breast cancer, which was diagnosed on her return--hoping Continue reading »
The Vegetarian Bistro: 250 Authentic French Regional Recipes
Marlena Spieler, Chronicle Books
Here is inspiration for vegetarians who favor hearty, satisfying food. Bistro merges well with vegetarian, notes Spieler (Naturally Good; The Art of Mediterranean Vegetarian) because of French Continue reading »
The SeeMore Readers series by Seymour Simon continues with the addition of four new titles. Baby Animals and Fighting Fires are Level 1 readers (preschool to grade three); Level 2 readers (grades Continue reading »
Sheen makes a strong debut with this moving, partly autobiographical, bittersweet coming-of-age story set in 50s Los Angeles. When four-year-old Jorie Mackinnons mother dies of polio, she faces an Continue reading »
Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long, Dianna Hutts Aston
Aston and Long follow A Butterfly Is Patient and other collaborations with a poetic examination of the vast insect order of beetles. As in the previous books, brief phrases (“A beetle is Continue reading »
The rhythmic and kinetic Googie style, a name prompted by John Lautner's 1949 design for Googie's restaurant in Los Angeles, evolved from the '30s Streamline Moderne. With wit and verve, Hess traces Continue reading »
Seasons on the Pacific Coast: A Naturalist's Notebook
Susan J. Tweit, Chronicle Books
In 40 personal essays, naturalist Tweit (Seasons in the Desert) evokes the beauty of the Pacific Coast by describing some of the region's unusual plant and animal species. Species profiles are Continue reading »
Originally published in France, this slight but agreeable bedtime book features a young girl who, with pajama bottoms slipping down and one shoe off, rounds up her sleeping companions--an assortment Continue reading »
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without gift books, and a variety of impressive-looking new treatments of family classics aims to fill that niche. Michael Hague's many fans will embrace his Continue reading »
Potter's sublimely quirky illustrations adorn this moving tale of death and remembrance set in Mexico and linked to the rhythms of the monarch butterfly. "Grandmother was my best Continue reading »
A companion to The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle, The Sketchbook of Thomas Blue Eagle by Gay Matthaei and Jewel Grutman, illus. by Adam Cvijanovic, begins in 1885, when Blue Eagle is ""eighteen Continue reading »
Just in time for summer family road trips, two sets of cards aim to keep kids occupied in the back seat: Let's Go! A Nick Jr. Travel Deck and Hit the Road! A Nickelodeon Travel Deck. In the first Continue reading »
Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer
Kathy Kleiman
Law professor Kleiman recounts in her fantastic debut the vital but overlooked role six women played in the history of computers. While researching computer programming, Kleiman Continue reading »
Tony and Oscar–winning actor Davis gives a master class in triumphing over poverty and despair in her soul-baring debut. Born in 1965, Davis became intimate with destitution, Continue reading »
Novelist Castillo (America Is Not the Heart) argues in this brilliant and passionate collection that the publishing industry is designed to suit white readers and that changing Continue reading »
The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes
Eleanor Ford
“The story of food can sometimes be the story of humanity, and nowhere does that seem more true than in the case of the spice routes,” asserts food and travel writer Ford (Fire Continue reading »