Liza Fosburgh

Ten-year-old Arabella Fitzgerald, a pampered young girl who lives with her mother in a mansion on the Hudson River, is dismayed to learn that her new stepfather intends to send her to boarding school. While pouring out her troubles to her beloved cat Miranda, Arabella is amazed to discover that Miranda can speak to her, and that she can escape her troubles by becoming a cat. But Arabella, now Bella the cat, soon discovers that life as a feline is not entirely problem-free...

While some of the scenes in Bella Arabella have a charm that will appeal to the cat-lover (the book comes recommended by Cleveland Amory), I found the resolution a little pat, and the tone almost preachy. This tale has also been told in Eric Christian Haugaard’s picture-book fairytale, Princess Horrid, which I prefer.… (mer)

Ms. Fosburgh provides hints for adapting her Summery soup & salad recipes to young palates. The layout of recipes is clear and easy to make sense of. The recipes themselves are easy to make---these aren't fancy hours-long affairs that'll have you slaving over a stove.

However, I found the tastes to be somewhat unbalanced. For instance, there's a brown rice salad in here that has, as its major flavor-providing ingredient, a quarter cup of lemon juice, and that's just about all you can taste in the end product.

On the whole I found more to enjoy in this book than in Ms. Fosburgh's Fall & Winter cookbook. The macaroni Creole salad, for example, is quite delicious, as are the corny stuffed tomatoes. There's a soup made with a little cheese and some jalapeno that has a perfectly balanced set of flavors.

These books are best for people who are a bit experienced in the kitchen and willing to mess with the seasonings here and there to re-balance the flavors. However, the cold salads & light soups in this book are certainly good, and handy to have around.… (mer)