Pop Goes the Page was on break this August when Katie published a fantastic post on Princeton University’s Special Collections blog…so we’re giving her a shout out today! What started as a random bit of office up-cycling turned into quite the scavenger hunt. Curious? Read on!
Feeling Blue?
Summer officially departed yesterday, but we still have time for one last burst of sun-ripened deliciousness! Today I’m testing a recipe from a charming cookbook celebrating a children’s classic.
The Blueberries for Sal Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2023), contains thirty recipes, ranging from drinks to desserts. Expect your classic muffins of course, but also try your hand at blueberry and chamomile tapioca pudding! The recipes are liberally sprinkled with Robert McClosky’s Caldecott-winning illustrations, with additional works by Piers Sanford.
As some of you may recall, my test kitchen is limited in that my son has allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs. But luckily, there was an entry for blueberry-apple crisp that was perfectly safe, so to the kitchen we go!
The recipe was very simple and easy to follow. I created the filling (blueberries, apples, sugar, salt, lemon, and cornstarch) with no problem. The crumble topping was equally easy. The dessert smelled amazing and was a gorgeous rich purple color. The hardest part, honestly, was repeatedly telling my cat she couldn’t have any.
My kids were ready when this came out of the oven, and I served it hot with vanilla ice cream. The unanimous consensus was: YUM. Just one thing…the recipe recommends you bake the dessert until the topping is golden brown. I think my creation would have benefited from a few more minutes in the oven, just to give it that extra crunch.
The simplicity of the recipes and lovely illustrations would make this cookbook a lovely gift for a young baker. Or your favorite librarian!
Want More Blueberries for Sal? We’re making jam over here!
Have Burro, Will Travel
This little library has legs! Packed on the back of this splendid burro you will find tales of bravery, enchantment, and courage…all brought to you courtesy of the Biblioburro Man.
We read Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books, 2010). Early in the morning, a man named Luis packs books onto his burros and rides far and wide to bring literary joy to small villages. At each stop, he reads stories to children and loans them books to read until his next highly anticipated visit.
This book is based on the true story of Luis Soriano Bohorque, the Biblioburro Man! You can read my 2015 interview with him here.
Our story time project is basically a box marionette that dangles from a wooden dowel. We used donated burlap to fashion saddle pads, red yarn for reins, and hot glued small boxes to the burros’ back for carrying books. Because this project involved a whole lot of brown, we added pops of color with patterned paper, flower stickers, and self-adhesive foam shapes. Just look at this handsome red burro!
You can’t have a Biblioburro without books, so we reused leftover 2.5″ x 4 journals from our miniature books event, cutting each book in half so they fit more easily in the burro’s small packs…
Then we loaded up and paraded around the galley in an enthusiastic burro train, bringing books to all!
