Treats That Speak Volumes

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Cookbooks
For the Traditional Cook
Artisan Baking Across America: The Breads, the Bakers, The Best Recipes
by Maggie Glezer (Artisan; $40)
Nothing is more basic than a loaf of bread--it's the staff of life, remember? But the loaves in Glezer's book, photographed by Ben Fink, twist and turn and glow and dazzle. Glezer, a baker certified by the American Institute of Baking, unravels the mysteries of sourdough, composes a Finnish rye bread and deconstructs baguettes. Her comforting tone will soothe even the nervous novice: "It's only flour and water and time," she insists. But a look through these pages shows that when Glezer bakes, it's actually high art. If anything is going to persuade time-starved American cooks to pick up the yeast, it will be this breathtaking opus.

RUNNER-UP: The Nantucket Holiday Table by Susan Simon (Chronicle; $29.95)
Have a glass of hot mulled wine with chestnuts. It's the holiday season, and the fire is blazing on Nantucket Island. Simon's recipes make it burn even brighter.

For the Trendy Cook
Mexico: One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless (Scribner; $35)
"Was there ever a fruit as sensual as an avocado?" Bayless writes. "So rough-hewn, dare-to-touch-me masculine on the outside, so yielding, inviting, soft spring green and feminine inside?" Was there ever a chef as passionate about a cuisine as Bayless is about Mexican food? Now that America is beyond the "spaghetti-and-meatballs stage" of Italian cuisine, the award-winning Chicago chef is determined to move north-of-the-border cooks beyond the taco. Thanks to Bayless's 26-part PBS series, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, and this luscious new cookbook, he just may succeed.

RUNNER-UP: Noodles: The New Way by Sri Owen (Villard; $24.95)
Grab your chopsticks! Egg noodles, rice noodles and soba noodles never looked as delicious as they do here. Take a twirl.

For the Intrepid Cook
The Foods of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads Of the Mediterranean
by Aglaia Kremezi (Houghton Mifflin; $35)
This is the genuine item, written by a Greek food writer who divides her time between Athens and the island of Kea in the Cyclades. Kremezi spent eight years collecting recipes from fishermen, bakers and homemakers on the Greek islands. The result reads like a love letter to her native land. Forget about your basic Greek salad; we're talking To Chaviari Tou Ftochou ("Poor Man's Caviar"), Ktapodi Me Skordalia (Octopus with Garlic Sauce) and Nistisimes Hortopites (Fried Greens Pies). Sprinkled throughout are Kremezi's homey observations: "My version is loosely based on a recipe I got from Gerasimos Konstantatos, a friend from Cephalonia. It was passed down from his mother, and he assures me it is the best he has ever tasted." Kremezi's book is not quite a cruise through the Greek islands, but with its tempting photos and recipes, it's the next best thing.

RUNNER-UP: 12 Seasons Cookbook by Alfred Portale with Andrew Friedman (Broadway; $45)
The chef of the celebrated Gotham Bar & Grill in New York City races around the culinary calendar, daring other cooks to keep up with him. We're stirring as fast as we can.

For the Gen X Cook
Katie Brown Entertains: 16 Menus, 16 Occasions, 16 Tables
by Katie Brown with Catherine Lippman (HarperCollins; $35)
Brown, 37, is vying for the title of Martha Stewart to the Gen X crowd. Emulating Martha, she is trying to build a one-woman industry with two antique store-cafes called GOAT in Los Angeles and Mackinac Island, Mich. Her first book has a whimsical, quirky quality. Besides recipes, Brown includes party "projects" that involve such unlikely components as ink pads and door jambs. Still, her exuberance is contagious.

RUNNER-UP: Joy of Cooking: All About Vegetarian Cooking (Scribner; $19.95)
It's hard to imagine Irma Rombauer cooking up a skillet of tofu. But 21st century palates will appreciate this creative tome.

Children's Books
For the Gentle Soul
Dream Snow by Eric Carle (Philomel Books; $21.99)
Few in number are the parents who have made it through their toddler's years on just one copy of Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Dream Snow has similar ingredients: a simple story, lively collage-like illustrations and a fun gimmick for little hands: the animals are hidden under a blanket of snow that can be lifted off. And at the end of the book is a wee Christmassy surprise, just enough to be cute rather than cloying.

RUNNER-UP: Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis; illustrated by Tony Ross (Henry Holt & Co.; $15)
With her red hair and cheeky smile, Susan is just like any other kid. She sings, swings, rides a pony and a see-saw, gets mad and sad. We discover the one small difference only on the last page. Susan is in a wheelchair.

For the Inexhaustible Sprite
OLIVIA by Ian Falconer (Atheneum Books; $16)
Olivia is one feisty little pig. If she were in the tale of The Three Little Pigs instead of her own, she would have built a house of reinforced concrete covered in jazzy frescoes. But Olivia has way too much vim to share a story. It's not so much what she does--goes to the beach, moves the cat (twice), refuses to nap--as the joie de vivre she brings to every activity. Falconer, whose work has appeared on New Yorker covers, has given her so much porcine panache that she would win over even the strictest parent. Most of the time.

RUNNER-UP: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Mark Teague (Scholastic; $15.95)
As it turns out, they don't roar or pout or demand piggybacks, although Teague has a good time showing what they would look like if they did. And hey, if T. rex goes to bed meekly, how could your little lizard not?