Banjo Granny
By Sarah Martin Busse and Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Owen's Granny plays bluegrass music. When she finds out that baby Owen goes "wiggly, jiggly, all-around giggly" for it, she puts on her "thousand-mile shoes" and sets out to see him. Along the way she encounters a raging river, a steep mountain, and a vast desert.
Granny sings to the river and it calms so she can cross it on her banjo case; the mountain bends down to listen and Granny flies over it using a balloon, and the desert winds gently blow so Granny can float above it using her nightgown as a sail. This sweet story includes the music and lyrics for Owen's song.
Caldecott winner Jacqueline Briggs Martin, who won the award for Snowflake Bentley in 1999, collaborates on this story with her daughter, a Madison writer. The soft, luminous illustrations by Barry Root complement the text.
- Lesley Kircher
Stuff to Hold Your Stuff
By Ellen Warwick and Bernice Lum
Purses with pizzazz, lunch bags, wallets, eyeglass cases - this little instruction book has loads of colorful projects. Learn how to make purses out of neckties, vinyl, tarpaulin, or, my favorite, a pair of brightly colored cotton placemats. Make a beach bag out of a beach towel that you can unsnap and use to dry yourself after a dip in the pool. The basic skills and equipment you'll want to have are outlined, and traceable templates are included. Recommended for crafty 12- to 16-year-olds, although kids as young as eight could tackle these projects with adult assistance.
-Karen Lucas
Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters
Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple
In this children's cookbook, Jane Yolen retells 19 stories based on old folktales. The final story, "Seven Hills of Sweet," is an original by the author. Yolen's daughter includes a complementary recipe for each and encourages the cook to experiment and adapt to personal tastes. The stories are divided into breakfasts, lunches, soups, dinners and desserts and include "The Magic Pot of Porridge" and perfect porridge, "The Magic Cave" and goat cheese sandwiches, "Brer Rabbit" and carrot soup, "Hodja Borrows a Pot" and Hodja's kebabs, and "Cinderella" and pumpkin tartlets.
- Lesley Kircher