Extremely happy holidays for exuberant grown-ups Wildly creative new cocktails to uplift and enchant through a full year of holiday chaos

McEwan, a home bartender and debut author, teams up with his mother, bestselling children's book author Boynton (Barnyard Dance), to whip up a charmingly silly collection of holiday-themed drinks. The pair take an irreverent tone, never passing up an opportunity for a linguistic or visual pun. The recipes themselves take some entertaining risks: there's a blue cheese rim on a michelada for Super Bowl Sunday, freeze-dried astronaut ice cream in a New Year's Day quaff, and jelly beans as a garnish for a tiki cocktail that pays homage to both Easter the holiday and Easter Island. Some of the more theatrical propositions include a tiered red, white, and blue slushy of frozen negroni, margarita, and mai tai for July 4; and a Halloween drink finished with an orange peel garnish in the shape of a jack-o'-lantern and a rum flight that gets set on fire. For the less daring, there's a straightforward jalapeño-infused margarita to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and a Mother's Day play on a whiskey sour inspired by the flavors of breakfast in bed, with Earl Grey honey, grapefruit juice, and sausage-washed bourbon. Every recipe is followed by a zero ABV version. Festive, fun, and fanciful, this will make a great gift. (Oct.)

Passionate amateur mixologist McEwan teams up with Sandra Boynton (the beloved author/illustrator, who is also his mom) to create a collection of cocktails and mocktails guaranteed to make anyone's year a bit brighter. After an introductory section dedicated to bartending tips and details on necessary equipment, the majority of the book consists of drinks tied to the major (and a few minor) holidays. The Astronaut Mimosa, with ingredients that include Tang and astronaut ice cream, and its mocktail equivalent, Space Camp, will help ring in the New Year, while El Noggarita and its mocktail counterpart will help readers celebrate Christmas in style. Every recipe in the book is served with a generous jigger of wry wit that is perfectly matched by Boynton's wonderfully whimsical accompanying illustrations. Those who take their drinking seriously will be pleased to find some marvelously inventive cocktail recipes in the mix (such as the Buffalo Wing Michelada, a surefire Super Bowl party hit) and ingenious tips like McEwan's technique for bacon-washing bourbon. VERDICT This infectiously fun collection of delectable drinks and charming illustrations will have readers saying, "I'll drink to that."--John Charles