Pizza, pasta, and olive oil: today, it’s hard to imagine any supermarket without these items. But how did these foods—and many more Italian ingredients—become so widespread?

In this book, Diego Zancani maps the extraordinary progress of Italian food, from the legacy of the Roman invasion to its current, ever-increasing popularity. Starting with medieval manuscripts, he traces Italian recipes in Britain back to the thirteenth century, and draws on later travel diaries to explore British and American encounters with Italian food abroad. The book also shows how Italian immigrants, from ice-cream sellers and grocers to chefs and restauranteurs, had a transformative influence on the spread of the cuisine, championing Italian food at pivotal moments throughout history.

Lavishly illustrated with material from the archives of the Bodleian Library and elsewhere, this sumptuous book also includes Italian regional recipes that have come down to us through the centuries, and celebrates the enduring international appeal of delicatessens, pizzerias, trattorias, and the Mediterranean diet.
 

Bears spend the winter months slumbering deep in dark caves. But they’re not the only wild animals with strange sleep habits. Horses do it standing up in stalls or fields, their tails switching at troublesome flies. Seals like to stretch out their flippers when settling in to sleep. And your dog or cat probably curls up quite happily in a cozy box or basket.
           
Sleepy Book by Charlotte Zolotow invites young readers to explore bedtime in fields, forests, and other places animals make their homes. In the book, children will find many familiar favorites, like a flock of birds huddled for warmth, but they’re also sure to make new friends, from a snowy crane standing on one long leg to a tiny black spider fast asleep in its web. Each facing page contains a beautiful illustration by Vladimir Bobri.

Originally published in 1958, Sleepy Book is one of the most recent additions to the Bodleian Library’s children’s book imprint, and it’s the perfect story to read before saying goodnight.