Sometimes the most unintentional mistakes yield some magical results!
Carlos is working in the kitchen of the Mexican monastery when the cook enters the room in a panic. The Spanish Viceroy is on his way for a surprise visit and will arrive by noon, expecting dinner. What will the brothers feed this important ambassador to the king? Carlos tries to stay out of the way as lunch is hastily prepared, but his curiosity gets the best of him. 
His eagerness results in a moment of crisis, followed by what the brothers can only assume is a miracle. This story, inspired by the Mexican folk tradition, explains the origins of molé, the popular national dish that combines chocolate with turkey, spices, and nuts. Stefan Czernecki's amusing, angular illustrations capture the chaos in the kitchen as well as the folk tradition behind the tale.

Holy Mole!: A Folktale from Mexico

Children's Books

Czernecki, Stefan

McAlister, Caroline

Literature & Fiction

August House

Duke Cosimo de’ Medici loved beautiful and exotic things, particularly flowers and plants from far-off lands. So when an explorer delivers the magnificent jasmine plant all the way from India as a present to the duke, Cosimo guards it jealously, forbidding anyone to remove even one leaf for themselves. When the foolish gardener Antonio, determined to prove his love for Donatella, clips a sprig of the forbidden jasmine, he is sent to Volterra prison. Now brave Donatella is his only hope for freedom. The story of Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief is based on a legend about Duke Cosimo de’ Medici and the origins of the Italian bridal tradition of wearing a sprig of jasmine on one’s wedding dress. Back matter describes Renaissance Florence and the rise of the Medici family. With links to art, history, and science, this book will please readers of all interests.

Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief

Charlesbridge

A captivating picture book biography of a boy who imagined a world full of dragons and grew up to be beloved author J. R. R. Tolkien.
John Ronald loved dragons. He liked to imagine dragons when he was alone, and with his friends, and especially when life got hard or sad. After his mother died and he had to live with a cold-hearted aunt, he looked for dragons. He searched for them at his boarding school. And when he fought in a Great War, he felt as if terrible, destructive dragons were everywhere. But he never actually found one, until one day, when he was a grown man but still very much a boy at heart, when he decided to create one of his own. John Ronald's Dragons, a picture book biography by Caroline McAlister and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, introduces the beloved creator of Middle Earth and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to a new generation of children who see magic in the world around them.

John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien

Biographies

Roaring Brook Press

Finding Narnia is Caroline McAlister and Jessica Lanan's captivating picture book biography of two brothers, Jack and Warnie Lewis, whose rich imaginations led to the creation of the magical world of Narnia.
Before C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he was a young boy named Jack who spent his days dreaming up stories of other worlds filled with knights, castles, and talking animals. His brother, Warnie, spent his days imagining worlds filled with trains, boats, and technology. One rainy day, they found a wardrobe in a little room next to the attic, and they wondered, What if the wardrobe had no end?
Years later, Jack began to think about what could be beyond that wardrobe, and about a girl named Lucy and her siblings. This picture book biography introduces the beloved creator of The Chronicles of Narnia to a new generation of children who see hidden magic in the world around them.

Finding Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis and His Brother

Holy Mole'!

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

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Books by McAlister, Caroline