February 21 – It’s Hot Breakfast Month

About the Holiday

Hot Breakfast Month was established to encourage people to have a hot, healthy breakfast before they go off to work or school. A good breakfast can keep your brain and your body working longer and better, which will result in a good day and more happiness in your life! And during this cold month, it feels good to get the day started off with a warm, satisfying meal. So scramble up a few eggs, make a bowl of yummy oatmeal, or whip up a batch of pancakes or waffles. And if you’re following a more plant-based diet, there are lots of grains and greens that will give you a nourishing sendoff.

Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World

Written by Lynne Marie | Illustrated by Parwinder Singh

If you’re raising a culinary conscious and curious kid satisfies that gnawing hunger for more information on world cuisine. Visiting families around the globe at breakfast, lunch, and dinner time, Lynne Marie offers up tidbits about what kids eat plus other interesting food facts. The first stop is China, where Yu Yan is enjoying a bowl of congee—or rice porridge—before heading out to school. This morning, the congee includes squid that her father has caught. Yu Yan “slurps loudly to show how much she likes it.”

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Image copyright Parwinder Singh, 2019, text copyright Lynne Marie, 2019. Courtesy of Beaming Books.

High in the mountains of Peru, Luz is bundled up in the early morning air as she gets ready to help out with her grandfather’s llamas. First, she warms up with chuño cola—a soup made from freeze-dried potatoes. For Luz, breakfast usually consists of leftovers from dinner the night before. Hospitality is so important to people in the Philippines that one of the most common greetings is “‘Kumain ka na?’ meaning ‘Have you eaten yet?’” If not, you may be invited to join in a breakfast of spamsilog—a dish of fried SPAM, fried eggs, and garlic rice.

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Image copyright Parwinder Singh, 2019, text copyright Lynne Marie, 2019. Courtesy of Beaming Books.

In Jamaica, Zhade and her mother make savory pastries filled with spicy ground beef. These can be eaten on their own or wrapped in coco bread—a soft, sweet bread—to make sandwiches. For Camille, living in France, lunch is a four-course meal served at school. Today, Camille and her friends are having “a cucumber and tomato salad, then a main course of roast beef with cooked broccoli. Next, a small plate of cheese, finished with apple tart for dessert.” It must not be Wednesday, though. In France, there’s no school on Wednesday afternoons. “Instead, many attend on Saturday mornings.”

It’s dinnertime for Priya, who lives in India. She and her family are at their favorite restaurant, where Priya has ordered Tandoori chicken. “Tandoori chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices then roasted in a tandoor, a round clay oven.” After dinner, she and her family go home to watch cricket on TV.

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Image copyright Parwinder Singh, 2019, text copyright Lynne Marie, 2019. Courtesy of Beaming Books.

For many families in Sweden, Thursday dinners follow a tradition that goes back to the fifteenth century. Tonight, Hugo is having “pea soup and pancakes with lingonberry jam. Perfect for keeping warm on a cold winter night.” Lingonberry jam isn’t just for pancakes. It can be used in a variety of sweet and savory dishes.

Finally! It’s time for dessert! In Egypt, Mandisa and her brother are enjoying basbousa—a coconut cake. They especially like it with a topping of rose-blossom or orange-blossom syrup that makes it taste extra sweet. In Nigeria, Chetachi can’t wait to dig into the bowl of tropical fruit sprinkled with coconut. It looks like his sister would like some too! All over the world, people sit down to meals with foods they love. Learning more about these dishes and trying them is a great way to feel a sense of community with other kids.

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Image copyright Parwinder Singh, 2019, text copyright Lynne Marie, 2019. Courtesy of Beaming Books.

In her conversational tour around the world, Lynne Marie invites readers to sit down with their peers and enjoy a variety of meals and snacks while also learning a little about the history, culture, environment, and animals of each area. A question prompting readers to think about their own connection to food accompanies each two-page spread and offers an opportunity for classroom or home discussion and exploration.

Parwinder Singh populates his illustrations with enthusiastic kids dipping into soups, dishing up a plateful around the family dining table, helping out in the kitchen, and licking their fingers to enjoy every drop of a delicious treat. Singh’s colorful backdrops give kids a glimpse into the homes that nourish each child and the landscape that often influences the ingredients that make up their favorite foods.

Sure to spark children’s interest in tasting foods from around the world and learning more about the cultures of the thirteen countries represented here, Let’s Eat! Mealtime around the World makes for a deletable lead-in for social studies and geography lessons, events highlighting international foods, and multicultural explorations at home.

Ages 4 – 8

Beaming Books, 2019 | ISBN 978-1506451947

Discover more about Lynne Marie and her books on her website.

Hot Breakfast Month Activity

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Pancake Flip-Out Game

Pancakes are served in a stack because they’re so delicious that each one doesn’t last long! In this game see how many pancakes you can flip onto the plate!

Supplies

Printable Pancakes Template
Printable Breakfast Plate Template (optional – you can use your own paper plate or other dish)
Heavy stock paper, poster board, cardboard, or foam sheet (optional)
Glue
Scissors
Spatula (optional)

You can play this game several ways:

Print and cut out the pancakes
Glue the pancakes to the heavy paper, poster board, or foam sheet to make them heavy enough to toss and fly
Print and cut out the plate template or use your own plate
Place the plate on the floor
Draw 3 concentric circles around the plate about 12 inches apart
Give each player the same number of pancakes and choose someone to go first
Each player takes turns tossing or flipping their pancakes, trying to get them onto the plate
When a player has used all of their pancakes add up their score:

Hitting the target can earn you 20 points
Getting your pancake in the first circle around the plate earns you 15 point
Hitting the second circle is worth 10 points
Pancakes landing in the third circle are worth 5 points

Rotate through the players as many times as you like and add up the points at the end. The player with the most points wins!

Try this Option:

Instead of tossing the pancakes with your hands, try flipping them with a spatula! Or: Make up your own rules—and have fun!

**You can find Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

January 27 – National Chocolate Cake Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Cake

Written by Sue Hendra | Illustrated by Paul Linnet

Cake had received an invitation to a party. “He’d never been to a party before, so he didn’t know what to expect.” He wanted to look his best, though, so he tried on different outfits and asked Fish what he thought. Fish didn’t think the pink parasol, the pirate get up, or the superhero costume were quite right. Fish suggested Cake wear a hat, so Cake went off to the shops in town to find one.

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Image copyright Paul Linnet, 2019, text copyright Sue Hendra, 2019. Courtesy of Aladdin.

Cake tried on a fedora and a fez, a hat with streamers and a hat with a feather, he even tried on a hat with a full fruit salad on top, but none of these were what he wanted. A shop assistant approached and asked if he could help. Hearing that Cake was going to a party, the shop assistant brought out a hat that he said Cake would look “irresistible” in. Cake couldn’t wait to show Fish.

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Image copyright Paul Linnet, 2019, text copyright Sue Hendra, 2019. Courtesy of Aladdin.

At home, Cake put on his new purchase and surprised Fish with the big reveal. Fish took in the drippy icing hat sporting four lit candles and the blue ribbon and exclaimed, “‘You’ve cracked it!’” Cake jumped on his bike and rode to the party. As he rang the doorbell, Cake felt nervous, but everyone welcomed him with cheers and smiles. “‘A party isn’t a party without CAKE!’ they said.” Cake had a great time watching the dancing and games from his place on the table, but when the singing started he got a bad feeling about things. “Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and everything went black.”

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Image copyright Paul Linnet, 2019, text copyright Sue Hendra, 2019. Courtesy of Aladdin.

Just then Cake felt a shaky hand grab his, and voice yelled, “‘Quick!’” Cake found himself running through the backyard and over the fence with a slice of pizza, cookies, ice cream, and other treats. They all went to Cake’s house and had a lovely tea party. Meanwhile, back at the party, Piñata rang the bell, hoping he wasn’t too late.

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Image copyright Paul Linnet, 2019, text copyright Sue Hendra, 2019. Courtesy of Aladdin.

If your kids enjoy a slice of dark humor, Sue Hendra’s droll party story is a gift they’ll love to open again and again. With clever turns of phrase and by juxtaposing Cake’s naïveté and readers’ birthday party experiences, Hendra invites kids to be active participants in Cake’s adventure. As Cake prepares for his first party, little ones will giggle as he tries on various outfits—sly riffs on popular cake decorations. Cake’s hat reveal provides a laugh-out-loud moment and increases readers’ suspense for what’s to come as Cake attends the party. Hendra’s food flight will delight kids, and the surprise ending gives them one more laugh—and a chance to devise their own story of Piñata’s escape.

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Image copyright Paul Linnet, 2019, text copyright Sue Hendra, 2019. Courtesy of Aladdin.

Paul Linnet sprinkles his pages with festive party colors, cake-shaped spotlights, and vibrant layers that are the icing to Hendra’s story. With his wide eyes and innocent expression, Cake is a sweetie that will charm little readers. The clueless revelry that Cake and Fish display over the chosen party hat is hilarious, endearing and even a little poignant. Cake’s impromptu tea party for his new foodie friends shows readers there’s a way to party for everyone—as Piñata is sure (hopefully!) to find out too.

For silly story time fun frosted with sweetness and spiced with suspense, Cake is a delectable addition to home, school, and public library book shelves.

Ages 4 – 8

Aladdin, 2019 | ISBN 978-1534425507

You can connect with Sue Hendra on Twitter

You can connect with Paul Linnet on Twitter

National Chocolate Cake Day Activity

Piece of Cake! Maze

Help the kids navigate their way through the party while picking up all five cakes so they can get slices of their own in this printable puzzle.

Piece of Cake! Maze Puzzle | Piece of Cake! Maze Solution

**You can find Cake at these booksellers**

Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

January 17 – Kid Inventors’ Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Today’s holiday celebrates all those ingenious kids who have improved the world with their inventions. This date was chosen to commemorate another child inventor—Benjamin Franklin—who designed the first swim fins when he was just 12 years old! (Seriously, is there nothing this man didn’t or couldn’t do?) With their supple minds and can-do attitudes, kids have changed the ways things are done in the fields of medicine, technology, communications, and even food—as today’s book shows! To learn more about the day and find resources for young inventors, visit the K.I.D website.

The Hole Story of the Doughnut

Written by Pat Miller | Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch

In 1844 at the tender age of 13, Hanson Gregory left the family farm and went to sea as a cabin boy on the schooner Isaac Achorn. He quickly became the cook’s assistant and also learned how to rig the sails and “steer a ship over trackless waves by sun and stars.” By the age of 19 Gregory had become the captain of the schooner Hardscrabble, and within a few more years was racing “his cargo from Maine to California as commander of a clipper, the fastest ship on any ocean.”

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Image copyright Vincent X. Kirsch, courtesy of vincentxkirsch.com

Hanson Gregory may have been one of the best captains to sail the seas—once awarded a medal for heroism for rescuing seven shipwrecked Spanish sailors even though his own ship and crew were endangered. But his greatest achievement was not attained because of his seafaring skills—it was his ingenuity in the galley that people remember.

On June 22, 1847 as a 16-year-old cook’s assistant, Hanson was rustling up the crew’s breakfast—coffee and fried cakes, the same as every morning. While the pot of lard bubbled on the stove, Gregory formed balls of sweetened dough and dropped them in. They sizzled and crisped—at least around the edges. The centers were raw, heavy with grease, and they dropped like cannonballs in the stomach. “Sailors called them Sinkers.” But this morning Gregory had an idea. He removed the lid from the pepper can and cut out the center of the balls. “Then he tossed the rings into the bubbling lard.”

Image copyright Vincent X. Kirsch, courtesy of vincentxkirsch.com

The cook and the sailors took one look at this odd concoction and…ate them up! “The cakes were brown, and sweet, and fully cooked. Sighs of delight rose above the noisy sea. A new breakfast tradition was born.” Gregory told his mom about his invention, and she fried up large batches of these ‘holey cakes’ that became a sensation at a friend’s store and on the docks.

You might think this is a pretty interesting tale in itself, “but sailors like their stories bold” and so they “spun legends worthy of such a delicious treat.” One tale had Captain Gregory inventing the doughnut while he saved his ship from disaster. Another told how Gregory, distraught over the drowning of five sailors pulled to the ocean floor by their “sinker” breakfast, punched holes in every cake to make them look like life rings and vowed, “‘Never again!’”

Captain Gregory had a sense of humor about his accomplishment. During an interview he once stated that “he had invented ‘the first hole ever seen by mortal eyes.’” Gregory lived to be 89 and is buried “overlooking the sea where stormy weather can be spotted as readily as it once was from the quarterdeck of the Hardscrabble.”

An author’s note expanding on the story of Captain Gregory, the doughnut, doughnut shops, a timeline, and a selected bibliography follow the text.

Image copyright Vincent X. Kirsch, courtesy of vincentxkirsch.com

Doughnuts have never been so evocative! In Pat Miller’s humorous, informative history of this favorite pastry treat, readers can smell the salt air, feel the ocean swell and roll under their feet, and even ache a little for those poor sailors forced to eat “sinkers.” Seamlessly interwoven into this foodography is a fascinating look at the early days of sail. Miller’s language is immediately stirring: the Ivanhoe bucks and plunges, the sea becomes a monster, and Captain Gregory spears a sinker on the wheel spoke. Kids will marvel at a 13-year-old going off to sea and becoming an inventor at 16.

Vincent X. Kirsch provides just the right touch to this captivating true story with his cartoon-inspired watercolor and cut paper artwork. Ingeniously incorporating Hanson Gregory’s innovation of removing the center of the fried cakes, Kirsch’s illustrations are “cored” to allow for text, while the extracted section appears on the facing page as a glimpse through a porthole. The maritime atmosphere—from ship to shore—of the mid-1800s is beautifully represented in the folk-style sketches, and the humor that is so intrinsic to this story is wonderfully embraced.

The Hole Story of the Doughnut will delight foodies and history buffs alike and would make a fun gift and a delectable addition to personal libraries for all ages.

Ages 5 – 12

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016 | ISBN 978-0544319615

Vincent X. Kirsch’s website is full of illustrations from his books for children—take a look at his portfolio!

Spend some time with Pat Miller on her website that offers activities, tips, resources and many more books!

Kid Inventors’ Day Activity

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CD (Compact Doughnuts) Decoration

Are some of your CDs a little passé? Not if you can turn them into cute décor like this doughnut hanging.

Supplies

Unused CDs
Craft paint in tan, black, pink, yellow, white (or any colors you want for the doughnut and the icing)
Ribbon, any color and length you want
Fine-tip markers in bright colors
Glue
Glue dots (optional)
Paint brush

Directions

Paint a wavy edge around the CD, let dry
Paint the center of the CD, leaving the clear circle unpainted
When the icing paint is dry, draw sprinkles on the icing with the markers
With the ribbon make a loop hanger and attach it to the back of the CD with glue or glue dots
Hang your decoration

You can find The Hole Story of the Doughnut at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

December 7 – It’s Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

With all the special baking, cooking, and dining that takes place this month, it’s a good time to celebrate some staples of our diets as well as some unusual ingredients. Root vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, yams or sweet potatoes, celery root, turnips, and parsnips make meals homey and delicious, while exotic fruits, such as persimmon, dragonfruit, sapodilla, durian, and jackfruit, make for special and festive sides and desserts. This month try some new recipes that highlight two nutritious ingredients.

Potato Pants!

By Laurie Keller

Potato is so excited that Lance Vance’s Fancy Pants Store is selling potato pants that he’s doing a little dance—the robot, which he calls the “po-bot,” of course! He dances all the way to the store where potatoes are pouring in from all over and even delivered by Spud Bus, Tater Taxi, and Tuber Uber. They’re all rushing to Lance Vance’s because the sale is “Today Only” and “once they’re gone, they’re gone.” Potato knows just want he wants “…a stripey pair just like the ones in the window with stripey suspenders for added stripey-ness.”

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But then, through the window, Potato spies an eggplant—and not just any eggplant. It’s the same eggplant who, in his hurry to Lance Vance’s for the eggplant pants sale yesterday, ran into Potato and knocked him into a trash can. Now, Potato worries, “If he sees me in Lance Vance’s Fancy Pants Store, he’ll push me again—and ruin my brand-new potato pants!” All Potato can do is watch from outside as all the other potatoes find just the pants for them.

He finally thinks to call the grocery store. Since they have potatoes, they just might carry potato pants too, he reasons—and he could avoid that eggplant altogether. But the grocery store doesn’t have potato pants, spud slacks tater trousers, or even yam chaps, so Potato has to think of another way to get his pants while avoiding the eggplant. And time is running out. “There’s only one pair of pants left on the rack.”

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The dire situation emboldens Potato. He barrels toward the store and bursts through the door knocking Eggplant aside and ripping his new eggplant pants. Potato is too late anyway; the last pair of potato pants has just been sold. Potato is steamed and he lets loose with a tirade about how “that eggplant ruined everything” and how “he has brand-new perfect eggplant pants” while Potato has nothing and how unfair it all is.

Just then another spud points out that Eggplant’s pants aren’t perfect anymore since Potato tore them. Now Potato is scared as Eggplant gets right in his face and tells him that the only reason he was at Lance Vance’s in the first place was to…turn Potato into mashed potatoes? the spud wonders…apologize for pushing him. Eggplant is hoping that Potato will forgive him.

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Potato agonizes over this dilemma and finally decides to…forgive him and offer his own apology for tearing Eggplant’s pants. At that, the store clerk appears to tell Eggplant they can fix his pants and that Potato can have the stripey potato pants in the window. Both Eggplant and Potato are so happy they leave the store doing the po-bot and the egg-bot in their perfect new pants.

An Author’s Note introduces kids to the creator of potato pants—Tubérto—and unveils his latest collection of pants for “both the active and the couch potato.”

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A laugh-out-loud, tongue-tickling read aloud, Laurie Keller’s Potato Pants! is silliness at its best with lots of heart to boot. Keller’s clever mix of narration and dialogue draw kids into the mind of Potato as he bounces from the excitement of possibly getting stripey pants to the fear of facing his nemesis to the disappointment of missing the sale to plucking up the courage to forgive and apologize to Eggplant. Speech bubbles bring these dapper spuds to life as they negotiate the racks at Lance Vance’s Fancy Pants Store (adult readers should be prepared to read that name over and over!).

Keller’s bright, mixed-media (including potato stamps) illustrations are full of action, dynamic perspectives, and a community of potatoes and yams as delightfully bumpy, lumpy, and unique as those seen at any grocery store or farmers market. Kids will love picking out their own favorite potato pants from Tubérto’s fabulous collection, and you can bet they’ll jump up to do the Po-bot dance too.

Fun for all, Potato Pants! will inspire many tuberific story times at home, in the classroom, and at public and school libraries.

Ages 4 – 8

Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2018 | ISBN 978-1250107237

To learn more about Laurie Keller, her books, and her art, visit her website.

Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month Activity

Veggie Dot to Dots

You can dig up some fun with these three printable root vegetable dot-to-dot coloring pages.

Carrot Dot-to-Dot | Onion Dot-to-Dot | Radish Dot-to-Dot

**You can find Potato Pants! at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

October 24 – National Food Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Established in 2011 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, National Food Day aims to raise awareness of nutrition issues and encourage people to “Eat Real.” Eating real means “cutting back on sugary drinks, overly salted packaged foods and fatty, factory-farmed meats in favor of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and sustainably raised protein.” Prominent food activists help people discover where they can find food that is healthy and affordable. Another goal is to promote food production that is mindful of the environment, farm animals, and farmers. The efforts of National Food Day continue year round and culminate on October 24 with special events.

I received a copy of Now You Know What You Eat from Orchard Books for review consideration. All opinions are my own. I’m excited to be teaming with Orchard Books in a giveaway of the book. See details below.

Now You Know What You Eat: Pictures and Answers for the Curious Mind

By Valorie Fisher

As you lick an ice cream cone, dip your spoon into a bowl of macaroni and cheese, or crunch on a pickle, do you ever think about all of the ingredients that go into it or where those ingredients come from? That’s the fascinating premise behind Now You Know What You Eat. Valorie Fisher presents this information in bright graphic form with an inviting vintage touch. Her clearly marked pages make connections that even the youngest readers can follow.

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First up is that delicious summer treat—the ice cream cone. For kids this may look like cone + vanilla ice cream, but that pointy (or flat bottom) cup is made up of “flour + sugar + eggs + butter.” And the scoop? That’s made from “cream + milk + sugar + eggs + vanilla extract.” But where does all that stuff come from, a curious kid may wonder. Fisher has that covered too. Running along the bottom of the page is a pictorial which shows that eggs come from a chicken, flour comes from wheat, milk, cream, and butter come from a cow, sugar comes from sugarcane, and vanilla extract comes from the vanilla orchid.

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Children will be amazed to see what a collage the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie is and where the ground cinnamon that gives them their spice and the baking soda that helps the dough rise come from. There’s even a little tutorial on how the cookies are made once the dough is mixed. That seemingly simple peanut butter sandwich is another work of art. Among other things, kids learn how jelly is thickened, the difference between whole wheat bread and white bread, and the role of yeast in bread making. They may also find it interesting that the peanut, despite its name, is not a nut at all, but a legume.

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We all know mac ‘n’ cheese is scrumptious comfort food, but there’s a lot more to it than that—and readers will discover some surprising ingredients that go into the making of cheese. A short primer on macaroni dishes up some favorite shapes. Want to know how chocolate’s made? There’s a two-page spread for that too. From the cacao pod to the oven to the mold and every step in between, children discover how this favorite comes to be as well as the fact that “dark chocolate = milk chocolate – milk” and “white chocolate = milk chocolate – cocoa mass. The makings of maple syrup, dill pickles, lemonade, yogurt, vegetable soup, pizza, honey, and potato chips are also explored. A few ingredients, like milk, eggs, corn, and apples, are given an entire page to explain how it is grown or produced.

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Valorie Fisher combines symbols, such as addition and subtraction signs, brackets, and equal signs to show how separate ingredients are combined to become a favorite food. She also includes easy-to-understand text that explains more about each ingredient or finished dish and where base ingredients come from and/or how they are grown. Fisher also talks about the variety of milk-producing animals, kinds of corn, and types of apples and citrus fruits around the world. Noteworthy facts, such as how much milk one cow produces each week and that a person could stand on an egg without cracking it, will captivate kids.

Graphics-loving kids will immediately gravitate toward Fisher’s pages that use readily recognizable, but generic, images to deconstruct food into its individual parts. Presented on alternating colored squares, strips and blocks, the steps are easy to follow. Her vibrant choices highlight the food and draw readers in to linger over each page and its absorbing content. Illustrated pages also contain a guide to the makeup of a healthy plate; a chart outlining the minerals and vitamins in the foods presented and how they help the body; and a glossary.

Now You Know What You Eat: Pictures and Answers for the Curious Mind will entice readers of all ages to dig deeper into learning what goes into the food they eat and is an excellent accompaniment to cookbooks and nutrition guides at home and in school and public library collections.

Ages 4 – 8

Orchard Books, 2019 | ISBN 978-1338215465

To learn more about Valorie Fisher, her books, and her art, visit her website.

National Food Day Activity

CPB - Noodle Puzzle

Noodle on This! Puzzle

Pasta is a perennial favorite! Help these noodles get to the right plate, bowl, or pot in this printable Noodle on This puzzle that’s as wiggly as a wet noodle!

**You can find Now You Know What You Eat: Pictures and Answers for the Curious Mind at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

October 21 – National Apple Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

It’s apple season! Honeycrisp, Cortland, Gala, Fuji, Macintosh—there are so many delicious varieties to choose from and enjoy! The bounty of apples allows bakers and chefs to create scrumptious desserts and dishes, and for purists, there’s nothing better than biting into a crisp apple. Orchards are open for picking, and farmers markets and grocery stores are packed with these red, green, and yellow treats. To celebrate today and all month long, take the family apple picking, make your favorite apple recipes, or discover new taste sensations.

Applesauce Day

Written by Lisa J. Amstutz | Illustrated by Talitha Shipman

As a girl and her family have breakfast, she spies the tall pot that means it’s applesauce day. Her younger sister Hannah cheers, and her little brother “bangs his spoon.” After breakfast they head to the orchard outside the city. There, the air smells of ripe apples and it’s quiet. “There are no sirens or screeching tires. Only the buzzing of bees and the rustling of leaves in the wind.”