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Children's Literature
I always thought my mother invented "snow cream" (clean snow with sweetened flavored milk drizzled over it)--the author has (yet again) given us the definitive explanation of the cold, sweet treat called ice cream. Some people believe that the Chinese mixed snow, milk, and rice together as long as 3,000 years ago (not my mom!). In this worthy addition to the body of explanatory literature, readers are greeted, on the very first page, with a scene of people enjoying various forms of ice cream in a brightly colored ice cream parlor. This scene prepares them to learn about the entire history of ice cream, its developmental stages (recipe and processing changes), and the cultural influences that have shaped today's frozen delights. Gibbons takes us from cow (with her usual clear explanatory pictures) to the ice cream factory, from the grocery store to people eating their favorite kinds of ice cream. Along the way insets remind us of various facts: credit for the pasteurization process goes to Louis Pasteur; the three common container sizes (pint, quart, half gallon) for ice cream; and explanations of various words, such as "vendor" which means "someone who sells something." The word comes into play as she describes the invention of the ice cream cone at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, when an ice cream vendor ran out of paper cups for holding scoops of ice cream. A near-by waffle seller offered some of his waffles to create cones to hold the scoops. Lots of information about ice cream is included and visually depicted--so much as to create the need for a quick trip to the local market! Did you know that vanilla is still the favorite flavor followed by chocolate? Sunday is still the favoriteday for purchasing ice cream--the spelling of Ice Cream Sundae was changed from the original "Sunday" when people began eating them on other days of the week. Have you consumed the American average of 15 quarts this year? If not, grab a spoon for a scoop, a bar, a cone, or a straw for an ice cream soda! 2006, Holiday House, Ages 3 to 7.—Sheilah Egan
Overview
Everybody screams for ice cream! And it certainly has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a mere snow, milk, and rice mixture. Gail Gibbons explains the many firsts in ice cream history, from the first ice cream crank to the first waffle cone, as...