Bonnie Williams

Ice cream is such a ubiquitous dessert that you don't often stop to wonder about where and when it originated. This book provides a quick history of ice cream's journey over the years and some information about the sweet treat's current status.

As this book is designed for beginning readers, it keeps the text relatively simple. It collates a lot of information and cuts through the various debates of historical firsts (e.g., ice cream cones, ice cream sundaes, etc.) by noting there's a controversy but moving on to when these became popular enough to be noticed.

Of course, racing through thousands of years means there's a lot that's touched on without more context. Mention of "slaves" and problematic figures in history (e.g., Marco Polo) are just that -- mentions. There's no larger picture drawn, which on the one hand makes sense in a book for young children on a very specific topic. On the other hand, it is dismissive of heavy topics. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Illustrations are bright and cheery, almost cartoonish but in a good way. There are questions at the end of the book to test your knowledge, which feels fairly standard for books like this. I also appreciated the questions throughout the text that asked readers to draw connections to their own lives with considerations on your best friend's favorite flavor of ice cream, what ice cream flavor would you invent, and so on.

All in all, this book is chock full of interesting little historical tidbits and trivia that will appeal to readers of all ages who enjoy learning more about everyday items.… (meer)

This easy reader hits the mark on several points for me.

Dino School welcomes a new pupil: Teddy Rex! Everyone is friendly and Teddy is excited about his new school, but he has a little problem. When he gets excited, he just can't help but ROAR and accidents ensue. But with a little friendly help from the teacher and fellow students, Teddy learns when it's ok to roar and when he needs to use an inside voice.

The cartoon pictures have a colored-pencil/crayon scribble look that makes them fun and very school-like. Dinosaur fans will enjoy the colorful, perky dinosaurs that fill the pages, even if they're not factually accurate.

I especially appreciate that the font used is large and bold and stands out clearly from the colorful background and figures.

This has an accessible and familiar storyline that kids can relate to, lively and bright pictures, and text that is a good fit for beginning readers. The plot in general has a younger feel, so I'd recommend it to beginning readers in kindergarten.

Verdict: Not necessarily a stand-out title, but a good, solid filler for the easy reader section. I'm only sorry that there's only two books in the series, since I can see it being popular along the lines of Biscuit.

ISBN: 9781442449961; Published 2012 by Simon Spotlight; Borrowed from another library in my consortium… (meer)

"Chill out with the fascinating history behind ice cream, the first in a fact-tastic Level 3 Ready-to-Read nonfiction series about the history of fun stuff! Did you know that immigrants to Ellis Island were served ice cream as part of their first meal in America? Or that George Washington spent more than $200 on ice cream during the summer of 1790? Learn all about the cool history of everyone's favorite frozen treat in this fun, fact-filled Level 3 reader. A special section at the back of the book includes relevant info on subjects like geography and science, and there's even a fun quiz so you can test yourself to see what you've learned!"-- Provided by publisher.… (meer)