Ice Cream

From Publishers Weekly

Cooper's (Ballpark; Dance!) deliciously diverting book tackles a subject of intrinsic appeal to kids. The author gives the scoop on ice-cream making and anticipates all of their questions, answering them with, well, good humor and with many specifics that may surprise even the most ardent aficionados. Those who scream for ice cream may be astounded by the array of machines involved, from the milking machine in the barn, to the apparatus in the milk co-op that condenses the milk, to the ice-cream factory's numerous contraptions, including one that shapes flat pieces of cardboard into rounded containers of various sizes. Cooper's description of an enormous ice-cream mixing machine with multiple tanks exhibits a flair for language that appeals to multiple senses: "It is a steel, piston-pumping, cream-dripping, gadget-whirring, water-spraying, pipe-rattling, chocolate-leaking animal." Similarly, readers can hear the sounds in the barn at milking time: "The fump, fump of the suction cups; the chug, chug, chug of milk spurting through plastic tubes." Cooper's small-scale art precisely follows each step of the process as type sashays across the spreads in inventive configurations, and panoramic views show the delivery truck transporting this divine bovine product through town and country. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A step-by-step description of how ice cream is made, beginning with cows eating grass in a field and ending with the ice-cream carton in the hand of a delivery-truck driver who has walked out to a field to watch the cows graze. Cooper includes the sound effects of the suction cups of the milking machine ("Fump, fump") and the sound of milk spurting through plastic tubes ("Chug, chug, CHUG") while detailing the process of making the tasty dessert. His sense of humor finds its way into the pages of text-"Workers wearing aprons, hard hats, hair nets, and beard nets take care of the machine." Watercolor-and-pencil sketches fill the spreads and white space is used to maximum advantage. The text often weaves up and down and round the pages. On one page, it is laid out in a circle, illustrating the mixing of ice-cream ingredients. This book is an excellent vocabulary enhancer (glossary included) and after finishing it, readers will be tempted to dish out a few scoops.
Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.