Try it! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat, by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Giselle Potter

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This is a wonderfully illustrated book by the talented Giselle Potter (How to Build a Hug: Temple Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze Machine, by Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville). The main character of the true story is Frieda Caplan, Russian Jewish immigrant who came with her family to Los Angeles California in the 1920s. In the 1950s, as a young mother, she took a job as a bookkeeper at the Seventh Street Produce Market in LA. Soon, she moved into sales, which women were normally excluded. She then went on to own her own produce company in 1962 and specialized in exotic and rare foods.

What made Frieda special was her ability to convince others to try new and different looking produce, such as: red bananas, purple potatoes, kiwi fruit, dragonfruit, mangosteen, ect. She was able to use her enthusiasm to help others bridge into the world of unknown foods and adventure into new tastes. This is a delightful, easy to read, beautiful picture book worth adding to any library, public or private. Go Frieda!

If You Love Video Games, You Could Be… by Thea Feldman

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As a parent have you ever wanted to tell your child, ” Stop playing that video game! How will you make a living?” This is the book that will give your primary-aged child an educated and profitable clue to answering that question.

This book is a winner. Natalie Kwee’s illustrations are simple enough to not cloud the issue of what is be conveyed and advanced enough to convey what is being stated in the text.

The book begins with the Glossary page next to the Table of Contents page. The three chapters are: Video Game Writer, Video Game Animator, and Video Game Programmer. As a parent, you will be happy to hear that a video game writer must be a good reader and good writer of stories prior to working with video games. As a parent, you will be happy to know a video game animator needs to be good at math. And as a parent, you will be happy to know a video game programmer must be a good problem solver and learn how to code computers.

As a child, they will see how to make their stories come to life, how their drawings can be made to move, and how to keep mistakes from happening in the final product.

Alone by Megan E. Freeman

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In a new survival-story twist, 12-year old Maddie is left along to survive — not in the wilderness, but in her own home town of Millerville, Colorado. Maddie wakes up to discover that her whole town has mysteriously evacuated. Her mom thinks Maddie is at her dad’s house, and her dad thinks she’s at her mom’s house. Cell service is non-existent. Her only companion is the neighbor’s dog, George.

As the months pass, Maddie lives on canned food left behind in her neighbor’s homes. She takes paper and pencil with her and leaves thank you notes for the items she takes. As winter comes with no electricity and no furnaces, Maddie forages for supplies to keep from freezing. But hardest of all is her constant battle with loneliness; waiting, waiting, for her parents to come back for her. As Christmas comes, she drags the boxes of ornaments up from the basement and hangs shiny balls along the curtain rod. She wraps a rawhide bone for George and makes a Christmas dinner of turkey soup, canned cranberries, and canned apple pie filling. When singing “Silent Night” makes her cry, she switches to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The silence is her biggest enemy. When skills are required of her that she doesn’t have, the library is her resource. Maddie is a strong, resilient protagonist who faces injury and natural disasters, but she is a survivor waiting for her happy ending.

Written in prose, “Alone” is for all readers. The writing is beautiful!

Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly: The Coldfire Curse by Jordan Quinn

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This is book one in the series Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly. A curse has come upon the land and has a young dragon sets off to find the king for a cure. At the kingdom, she stumbles upon the prince’s pet dragon. They end up setting off on an adventure to save the land from the curse.

The story is geared towards younger readers and there is not a lot of text on the page, but the font is small. The illustrations are colorful and the frame size varies on the different pages. I story line and content make this a good choice for younger graphic novel fans.

A Friend Is… by Lisa Thiesing

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This sweet book shows different ways that we can be friends. Each page only has a few words on it describing things that friends do together. The pictures compliment the gentle text. The text is written in a curlicue font that may make independent reading difficult for readers. This could be used as a read aloud and then a discussion of friendship.

Vinny Gets a Job by Terry Brodner

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Vinny is a dog. Every day his mom goes to work everyday. When Vinny asked his adopted brother, a cat, where Mom goes, he learns what a job is and decides he should get a job. He tries a restaurant but he started licking the plates. He tried a florist shop and was asked to water the plants, but that didn’t work out. Finally he tries a museum, but he ends up taking a large dinosaur bone because it looked so delicious. When he finally returns home, Mom tells him his job is to be a dog.

The story is funny and sweet. It would be fun to read to a group and use for a lesson on prediction.

Books Big Adventure by Adam Lehrhaupt

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Book was new and bright and shiny. It went on many adventures until one day Book was moved to a lower shelf where it was lonely and forgotten. One day someone picked up Book and it was so excited to go on new adventures, but instead it was tossed in a box. Then suddenly Book was chosen again and went on new adventures.

The end notes includes places to donate books. The author’s note says that he has so many books that they are in boxes, which is not place for a book to live. During a school visit one day, the librarian mentioned that they donate excess books to readers who do not have a lot of books and that inspired him to research places to donate books.

Space Matters by Jacque Lynn

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Space is all around us. You find space in between words, buildings, and in the sky. Space can be useful. This short picture book causes readers to pause and think about empty space in a different way. The illustrations are diverse and inclusive, but does include and anthropomorphic gorilla.

The book might be useful in looking at perspective or trying to look at things in new ways. It would probably be best in an individual or small group setting.

Cougar Crossing, How Hollywood’s Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife. By Meeg Pincus and illustrated by Alexander Vidal.

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In the year 2009 and young cougar kitten is born in the Santa Monica hills, above Los Angeles California. He is the offspring of a tagged cougar known as P-1. This male cougar was the first to be tagged in the National Park Service Scientist program to study the wild mountain lions. This kitten become to be known as P-22. This particular mountain lion, known as P-22 becomes a local hero to people who are advocating for safe passage for wildlife over the freeways of southern California. Construction began in the year 2021 and will continue unti lit’s projected completion date of 2024.

The conclusions of the cougar study by the scientists revealed that cougars would likely become extinct within the next 50 years unless humans learned how to help them. They discovered that most cougars were killed by cars, rodent poisoning, and human hunters. The information of this study was helpful to get the information out to people who were leaving poison out for rats or mice, that domestic (dogs, cats) or wildlife (cougar, coyotes) could ingest this poison and die a horrible death. A law went before legislature to ban certain rodent poisons deadly to wildlife predators.

As the media followed this tagged cougar, known as P-22, people become invested in his wellbeing and cared about his safety. He had even eaten a favorite koala at the zoo and was forgiven by zoo officials, who vowed to better protect their animals at night. The puma’s following and loyal fan base was just as strong. This cat created a sensation which worked to create the animal crossing now being constructed. P-22 is still alive but has reached his old age and we have yet to see if he lives long enough to see the completion of the landbridge he helped to build!

At the end of this book are illustrations and information of other native animals in the hills of California, along with a timeline and website address for further research.

Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon. By Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua.

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She tells them about dragons that bring down the rain. Dragons that are wise and just. Dragons that fly without wings.

This primary children’s book is the account of an elementary girl of Chinese heritage and her experience with sharing her family’s knowledge and beliefs around dragons. During a classroom scene, her teacher reads a special dragon book that Amy brings to school. The children are inspired to create their own version of a dragon. That evening Amy includes her family in the process of rehabilitating an old dragon “puppet” costume found in the attic. They bring out cardboard, glitter, jewels, fabric and everyone contributes until Amy has the perfect thing to share with her classmates. Several gather round and get inside the puppet costume and soar through the class to the amazement and amusement of others.

In addition to the lovable story, there is an activity page at the end of the book with directions on how to make your own dragon! There is also a comparison of Western verses Eastern dragons and the different interpretations of both. This would make a delightful read aloud, inspiration for an art activity, or a good share during the Lunar New Year. This book would make a great addition to your library.