Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro!

Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro!

Maker Comics is the ultimate DIY guide. Inside this graphic novel you will find illustrated instructions for eight tasty treats! Today is the first day of Sage’s magical internship! Her fellow wizards-in-training get to study pyromancy and transfiguration, but Sage has been assigned an internship in...baking? She doesn’t think that sounds fun, or particularly magical! But her instructor, Korian, insists that baking is a tasty form of alchemy. In an enchanted kitchen where the ingredients insist that you eat them, Sage learns the simple science behind baking―and that’s the best kind of magic trick! In Bake Like a Pro! , you’ll learn how different combination of proteins, fats, and liquids will result in textures that lend themselves to perfect pies, breads, cookies, and more! Follow these simple recipes, and you’ll be able to bake a pizza and frost a cake―no magic necessary! Follow the easy step-by-step instructions and you can make: Chocolate chip cookies Cornbread Banana bread Pizza dough Cheesy biscuits Apple pies Sponge cake with Swiss buttercream frosting Lemon meringue pie Gr 5 Up-Taking a resolutely hands-on approach, these two titles explore the ins and outs of, respectively, baking and basic auto upkeep. Each book features a simple plot and a lively, diverse cast headed by an adult instructor. In Bake Like a Pro, apprentice wizard Sage learns from "alchemist and baking master" Korian (and an array of talking ingredients) how to make yummy baked goods, from chocolate chip cookies to cheddar biscuits to sponge cake, as well as the chemical processes that mixing and heating expedite, plus several tricks of the trade. In Fix a Car, several students gather once a week with their teacher Ms. Gritt for an informal Car Club. In addition to learning about the major components of their cars and the essential tools to keep handy, the kids practice changing a tire, cleaning their vehicles inside and out, jump-starting a stalled engine, and more. In both volumes, bright cartoon art consists of figures standing around and talking animatedly, but it's arranged in easy-to-follow sequential panels and only seldom looks squeezed by the narrative. Both entries kick off with safety notes and end with useful back matter: full recipes, side notes, and conversion tables in Bake; recommended repair manuals to keep on hand in Fix. VERDICT Offering challenging but realistically doable projects and specific explanations of background chemical and physical principles, these engaging guides will leave no wrench or spatula safe from middle and high school students (not to mention more intrepid grade schoolers).-John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New Yorkα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. "[I] was surprised by how much I learned and how much fun I had while doing it... Bake Like A Pro! strikes a balance in presenting us with enough of the science behind baking without having it feel overwhelming." ― The Beat "Offering challenging but realistically doable projects and specific explanations of background chemical and physical principles, these engaging guides will leave no wrench or spatula safe from middle and high school students (not to mention more intrepid grade schoolers)." ― School Library Journal "Koch delivers charmingly even as she illustrates loads of baking procedures and anthropomorphized ingredients clearly and specifically." ― Booklist Falynn Koch was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She has an MFA in sequential art from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta and is a graduate of the International Culinary Center in New York City. She loves to travel and explore the outdoors with her husband and occasionally her dogs. Her books from First Second include Science Comics: Bats , Science Comics: Plagues , Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro! , History Comics: The National Parks, History Comics: The Wild Mustangs (with writer Chris Duffy), and Science Comics: Elephants (with writer Jason Viola).