Ice Cream: The Full Scoop [Paperback]

Gail Gibbons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2008 | Age Range: 6 and up

Cool and smooth and sweet, ice cream has long been a favourite treat. It cools you off when it's hot and is too delicious to resist even in cold weather. How did it get to be so scrumptious? Best-selling author/illustrator Gail Gibbons dishes out the latest scoop on ice cream production. Ice cream has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a mixture of snow, milk, and rice. Gail Gibbons details the many firsts in ice cream history, from the earliest ice cream crank to the original waffle cone. Children's mouths will be watering as they follow ice cream's journey from farm to factory to freezer.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3–Ice cream is easy to love, but it has not always been easy to make. Like spaghetti, its origins date back to Marco Polo and his famous trip to China. Gibbons explains how this favorite food developed from flavored ice to the creamy dessert we know today, describes the invention and workings of the ice-cream maker, follows the journey from cow to factory to grocery-store shelves, and mentions the innovative creation of the cone. All of these details combine to pay homage to what is arguably the most popular treat on the planet. The narrative is simple and direct and the cartoon illustrations are colorful and cheerful. Potentially unfamiliar vocabulary is defined within the text or on the same page, and all diagrams are clearly labeled. There is a lot going on in this book, but the layout guides readers through the wealth of information.–Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. In cheerful watercolors and a lucid text, Gibbons delivers the scoop on ice cream history, ingredients, innovations, and the mechanics of its small- and large-scale production. Labels, captions, and occasional cross-sectional images (a hand-cranked ice cream maker, a giant mixing vat) pack the artwork with as much information as the text itself. A step-by-step tour of an ice cream factory occupies the bulk of the book and will probably interest readers the most, even if Gibbons' honest reporting about the manufacturing process (such as the inclusion of stabilizers and emulsifiers) takes some of the romance out of her subject matter. Trivia concludes ("More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any day of the week"), along with the caveat "DON'T EAT TOO MUCH!"--a well-intentioned but probably ineffectual warning in a book that pretty much guarantees instant cravings for a fudge-drenched sundae. Adding to the author-illustrator's reliable oeuvre of informational picture books, this will provide solid support for ice cream-themed field trips or classroom projects. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; Reprint edition (January 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823421554
• ISBN-13: 978-0823421558
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > How Things Work
  • #37 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Cooking

More About the Author

Gail Gibbons has published close to fifty distinguished nonfiction titles with Holiday House. According to "The Washington Post," "Gail Gibbons has taught more preschoolers and early readers about the world than any other children's writer-illustrator." She lives in Vermont. Her website is www.gailgibbons.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ice Cream: The Full Scoop August 6, 2006

By BookBabe

Format:Library Binding

Gibbons continues to provide quality non-fiction for the beginning reader. In Ice Cream, she first describes how ice cream was developed, beginning with the Chinese who mixed snow, milk and rice together to Nancy Johnson, who in 1841 invented the hand-cranked ice-cream maker. The excellent diagram of the parts of the ice-cream maker provide an interesting understanding of how people enjoyed this treat before the advent of the refrigerated supermarket product. The second part of the book describes the ice-cream business, beginning with the Jersey cow. The reader follows the milk from the cooling tank through the transportation system to its arrival at the ice-cream factory. Once there, Gibbons takes us on a tour of the various steps that are necessary for the production of the popular treat, including the invention of the ice-cream cone and the various ways ice cream is served and additional ice cream trivia. The illustrations are colorful and simple with just the right amount of detail to support the text. Children and their parents who love ice-cream will want to dip into this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ice Cream offers a fine visual and written history September 14, 2006

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Library Binding

Ice Cream: The Full Scoop describes the history of home and commercial ice cream making, from its hand-cranked beginnings to the origins of the ice cream cone and the modern ice cream factory. Packed with Gibbons' signature drawings, Ice Cream offers a fine visual and written history.

3.0 out of 5 stars It's ok for a kid March 22, 2013

By Nite

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's an ok book for a kid. Very short and quick read. Not one they would probably want to go back and read again.