Illustrated by Kat Fajardo 5 stars Another wonderful volume in The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class series. The third book follows Poppy Song, who loves baking and spending time with her grandmother. Poppy can’t wait for her grandmother, Po Po, to be the Valued Visitor in Mrs. Z’s class. But when Po Po starts acting…
Read More
by Sarai Gonzalez and Monica Brown Illustrated by Christine Almeda 4 stars A nice, upbeat chapter book about working together, helping others, and what it means to be awesome. When she learns her grandparents will have to move from their home, Sarai Gonzalez uses her skills in baking, dance, and problem-solving to help them. I…
Read More
Illustrated by Alona Millgram 5 stars In this delightful rhyming and rhythmic story, join the narrator and her grandmother as they bake challah for the Shabbat. Well-written and engaging. Told through catchy rhymes, the book goes through each step of making challah, from mixing together the ingredients and waiting for the dough to rise to…
Read More
5 stars A sweet story about battling perfectionism and showing it’s okay to not be good at something right away. I love the emphasis on being creative while still being realistic about your skills. It was great to see Naveen create something wonderful out of what he thought was a disaster. Loved the bright, colorful…
Read More
by Janae Marks 5 stars At times, I struggle with getting into realistic fiction, but I loved this one. Zoe has such a great voice and intriguing personality. This one really pulled me in. I also love that despite Zoe’s good intentions, she still has to face the consequences of her actions when she makes…
Read More
Illustrated by Emily Balsley 5 stars A delectable read about finding the right cake to tell your story. Phil loves baking with his parents, but after their divorce, things are different. His favorite recipe doesn’t feel right anymore. After talking it out with his friend, inspiration strikes, and Phil creates something entirely new, a blending…
Read More
by Michelle Sterling Illustrated by Dung Ho 3 stars A deliciously sweet story for a sweet new year. Every year, Ren hopes she can finally help make pineapple cakes for Lunar New Year. Will this be her year? A delightful story with wonderfully warm illustrations. Nice scenes of togetherness and moments of sharing and teaching….
Read More
4 stars An adorable follow up to the first book, depicting Bitty’s junior and senior year of college. It’s been a bit since I read the first book so it took a second for some of the details to come back to me. But I really enjoyed watching Bitty come into his own in this…
Read More
2 stars I currently work in a library and this series is quite popular among our patrons. Though I haven’t read many cozy mysteries, I wanted to see what it was all about. There were a lot of cringey moments with bad writing, overly detailed scenes, terrible police work, unethical vigilantism, talking down to the…
Read More
5 stars I loved this book. The writing was perfect. From the first page, I was instantly caught up in the narration. It was so casual and friendly. Even though the plot was not very complex, I was never bored or in a hurry to finish a section. I also thought the pacing was very…
Read More