Category: nonfiction

Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert
by Sara Andrea Fajardo (Author) and Juana Martinez-Neal (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest… for potatoes.

Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are special: they have the power to feed the world.

Alberto doesn’t have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.

Snippet:

The illustrator, Juana Martinez-Neal, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)

This Is How You Know
by Kirsten W. Larson (Author) and Cornelia Li (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: This ode to science encourages kids to let their imaginations run wild, let their eyes lead them to new clues, and let themselves be wrong, sometimes—but never give up! The quest for knowledge isn’t always straightforward, but if they trust the journey, eventually they’ll know the answers to big questions.

Snippet:

The author, Kirsten W. Larson, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)