From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-From information about the ancient Egyptians to modern Danes, who each consume an average of 36 pounds of sweets per year, this work is packed with savory tidbits that will keep readers turning pages. Those familiar with the author's Hairdo!: What We Do and Did to Our Hair (Holiday, 2002) will immediately recognize the format. The trivia is presented quickly and loosely in chronological and geographical order. Swain begins with the origin of the word "candy"-from the Arabic "qandi" which in turn has an Indian Sanskrit background. From here the history moves to ancient Egyptians and Romans, Europeans of the Middle Ages, Native Americans who favored maple syrup, Queen Elizabeth I, who ruined her teeth with "kissing comfits" and "dry suckets," Mayans who held the real treasure (chocolate), and 19th-century "penny candy." Not to be overlooked are modern giants like Milton Hershey and Gummy Worms. To continue the sweet thoughts, there are three recipes: Sugar Paste (a 20th-century adaptation of a 16th- and 17th-century recipe), Vassar Fudge (definitely higher education), and "Belly-guts" Taffy (the strands look like what hung in butcher shops). O'Brien's colorful cartoon drawings take the text to a new and funnier level. This is a nonfiction treat that youngsters will enjoy with their dentists' blessings.-Carolyn Janssen, Children's Learning Center of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Gr. 1-3. Sugary sweets have delighted humans since ancient times. Serving up a tasty smorgasbord of facts, Swain's illustrated history of candy is presented in rough chronological order. Unfortunately, sections on subjects from Elizabethan sweetmeats to maple sugaring to South American chocolate production have no real transitions to bind them, creating a somewhat disjointed text. Also, the anecdotes, stemming from different eras and countries, are not fleshed out adequately to stick in the minds (or teeth) of readers. Happily, the delightfully absurd, crosshatched illustrations comically exaggerate the stories and enliven the book considerably. The history closes with "short and sweet" facts about sugar and its consumption, a bibliography, a candy time line (from 1493, when Columbus brought sugarcane seedlings to the Americas on his second voyage, to 1999, when radio lollipops were invented), and recipes for items such as Vasser Fudge. Much like candy itself, a nonessential treat. Karin Snelson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
