Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg. The sweetest silver-lining book in recent memory, Beautiful Oops is a mixed-media exploration of boo-boos, screw-ups and spills in all their many forms. Colorful, sturdy flaps reveal the many possibilities of bright-side thinking about inkblots, bent pages, stains and more. Charming! Ages 3 and older. $11.95; Workman.
Dora & Diego: Let’s Cook. My yardstick for kid cookbook excellence: the chicken fingers. Get those right, and you’ve got my attention. In this new cookbook, said fingers are prepared by first marinating the chicken in crushed pineapple, mango, red pepper, cilantro and lime juice. ¡Hola, pollo! As kid fare goes, the recipes here are a cut above — but most kids won’t object (the chicken fingers are rolled in crushed tortilla chips, natch). Ages 4 and older. $16.95; Nickelodeon.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney. The fifth in the bestselling series that has tween boys bouncing off the walls with sheer joy; this installment has everykid Greg Heffley dealing with . . . gasp! . . . girls. To be released on Nov. 9. Ages 9–12. $13.95; Amulet.
— Kristen Russell