From Milk to Ice Cream

August 1, 2012

K-Gr 3-Children learn about the steps in the food-production cycle in these colorful titles. Chocolate explains how cocoa beans grow and are harvested, roasted, and made into chocolate. Peanut Butter describes the processes involved in harvesting, shelling, cooking, and crushing peanut plants to make peanut butter. In Milk, readers learn about what cows eat and how they are milked, and then how the milk is pasteurized for safe drinking. Ice Cream explains that milk is made into a mix with added flavorings to become ice cream. Each book contains a table of contents with the steps listed in the food production. Each spread is clearly organized by the introduction of a specific step and then followed by short sentences to provide additional explanations. A color photograph on the opposite page offers visual clues. Vocabulary words are in bold and are defined in a glossary at the end of each book. A perfect way for youngsters to get their first glimpse at how familiar foods are produced for consumption.-Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, OR

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades K-3 The covers alone are enough to get little mouths watering, with up-close images of sprinkle-covered ice-cream cones, chocolate bars, and peanut-butter-smeared bread. Each title in the Start to Finish: Food series begins with a universal truthfor instance, Ice cream is yummy! and then explains the production cycle for some of kids' favorite dishes. From Milk to Ice Cream overlaps somewhat with the previous title and continues on to illustrate how ice cream becomes fluffy. The photos here areperhaps unavoidablyrepetitive images of shiny equipment, but a shot of kids enjoying their treats nicely closes things out. With a few simple sentences on the left-hand side of the page and a bright, bold full-page photo on the right, these books are perfect for getting the younger elementary-age set thinking about where their food comes from.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)