Hi Kid Lit Friends!
Last month I took my kids to Hershey Park, an amusement park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Along with lots of coasters, there are chocolate references EVERYWHERE. Even the streets are named Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue, so you know that Hershey, PA is very serious about their chocolate.
At the same time, I was reading Tree of Dreams, a middle grade novel by Laura Resau which just released this past March. The story features a young chocolatier. This gave me the idea to do a themed book post all about chocolate, so here you go! *Please note that all descriptions come from the publisher.*
Sponsored by Cheshire Crossing, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Andy Weir and acclaimed illustrator Sarah Andersen.
What happens to Alice after Wonderland? Wendy after Neverland? Dorothy after Oz? In this thrilling book, you’ll find out what transpires after “happily ever after”! Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy meet at Cheshire Crossing, a boarding school for girls with special powers. But the trio, now teenagers, are tired of know-it-all teachers and boring lessons. So they cut class, dashing from one magical world to the next—inadvertently bringing the Wicked Witch and Captain Hook together to hatch an evil plan. Can Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy stop them in time? Get ready for a funny, boundlessly inventive journey through the imagination.
Picture Books
Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family by Elizabeth Zunon
As a little girl and her father bake her birthday cake together, Daddy tells the story of her Grandpa Cacao, a farmer from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. In a land where elephants roam and the air is hot and damp, Grandpa Cacao worked in his village to harvest cacao, the most important ingredient in chocolate. “Chocolate is a gift to you from Grandpa Cacao,” Daddy says. “We can only enjoy chocolate treats thanks to farmers like him.” Once the cake is baked, it’s ready to eat, but this isn’t her only birthday present. There’s a special surprise waiting at the front door . . .
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young, illustrated by Nicole Wong
This delectable dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. But those trees couldn’t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots—they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as “Cocoa flowers can’t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots,” explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels.
The Elephants and the Chocolate Cake by Balachander Vijayakumar, illustrated by Janani Balachander
It’s Poco’s special day, and Loco, Toco, and Poco set off on an important quest: they must find the biggest, CHOCOLATIEST cake to make the celebrations perfect. The three spunky elephants will have to think outside the box in order to successfully complete their quest. Can they do it in time? Your child will be excited to join in the fun! Along the way, they’ll learn about important values, like friendship and teamwork, and about acknowledging and accepting diversity.
Middle Grade Books
Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau
Prepare for a journey into a world filled with what so many crave — the sweet savoring of a chocolate drop. A drop that can melt even the most troubled realities. But in this nuanced, heartrending story, before good can emerge, there is destruction, the bombarding of a people, their culture, heritage, sacred beliefs, and the very soul that drives their traditions. This urgent, beautiful novel takes readers into the ugly realities that surround the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and its people. Acclaimed author Laura Resau shows us that love is more powerful than hatred, and that by working together, hope can be magically restored, root and branch.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!
Love, Sugar, Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano, illustrated by Michelle Ortega
Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most beloved bakery in Rose Hill, Texas, spending their days conjuring delicious cookies and cakes for any occasion. And no occasion is more important than the annual Dia de los Muertos festival. Leo hopes that this might be the year that she gets to help prepare for the big celebration—but, once again, she is told she’s too young. Sneaking out of school and down to the bakery, she discovers that her mother, aunt, and four older sisters have in fact been keeping a big secret: they’re brujas—witches of Mexican ancestry—who pour a little bit of sweet magic into everything that they bake.
The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase by Wendy Mass (this is the companion novel to The Candymakers, which is amazing and you should read that one first)
It has been a few months since the nationwide New Candy Contest, and Logan, Miles, Philip, and Daisy have returned to their regular lives. But when the winning candy bar comes down the conveyor belt at the Life is Sweet candy factory, Logan realizes something’s very wrong…. When the Candymaker announces that they will be going on tour to introduce the new candy bar, the four friends see this as an opportunity to make things right. But with a fifty-year-old secret revealed and stakes higher for each of them than they ever imagined, they will have to trust one another–and themselves–in order to face what lies ahead.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Aventurine is a brave young dragon ready to explore the world outside of her family’s mountain cave . . . if only they’d let her leave it. Her family thinks she’s too young to fly on her own, but she’s determined to prove them wrong by capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when that human tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she’s transformed into a puny human without any sharp teeth, fire breath, or claws. Still, she’s the fiercest creature in these mountains–and now she’s found her true passion: chocolate. All she has to do is get to the human city to find herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she’ll be conquering new territory in no time . . . won’t she?
Candy Bomber: The Story of Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael O. Tunnell
One WWII pilot’s mission to lift the spirits of children living in war-torn Berlin in 1945 comes to life in this moving middle-grade historical account. After World War II the United States and Britain airlifted food and supplies into Russian-blockaded West Berlin. US Air Force Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen knew the children of the city were suffering. To bring a bit of hope, he began dropping chocolate and chewing gum by parachute. What began as a one-time gesture of compassion turned into an official U.S. Air Force operation. “Operation Little Vittles” grew, as more and more pilots volunteered to drop the parachutes, and donations of candy and cloth poured in from all over. This inspiring story of one man’s contribution to the rebuilding of a country after war is a unique look at history.
The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders
Enter a world filled with magical chocolate, evil villains, and an adventure twins Lily and Oz never could have dreamed. . . .
Lily and Oz Spoffard have just inherited a magical house with a mysterious boarded-up chocolate shop on the ground floor. The twins’ great-great-uncles were famous chocolatiers, and their chocolate was ANYTHING but ordinary. In fact, it had magical properties. Now an evil gang is after the secret recipe, and it’s up to Lily and Oz to stop them. The fate of their family, and the world, depends on it.
I would love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.
Until next time!
Karina
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