YUMMY

Sugar and spice and all things nice are the focus of this eye-catching and educational graphic nonfiction title.

Enthusiastic, food-loving sprite Peri and her friends and fellow sprites, Fee and Fada—a racially diverse, colorfully coiffed trio—offer readers an overview of the history of desserts, insights into the science behind cooking and baking, and a few tempting recipes. The first chapter, focusing on ice cream, covers frozen dishes from ancient Rome and the Middle East, 19th-century European ice cream carts, and the Japanese American inventor of mochi ice cream, with stops along the way including sorbet (and its varying incarnations), the supposed invention of the waffle cone at the St. Louis World’s Fair, and modern Korean variations on the classic shaved ice dessert bingsu, among other topics. Other sections follow a similar format as they look at cakes, brownies, doughnuts, pies, gummies, cookies, and macarons. World maps inserted throughout help readers understand where various food items originated. Sections labeled “Story Time” concisely and colorfully explain how certain dishes came to be; when the stories are more legend than fact, the real history immediately follows. Elliott presents readers with delectable morsels of knowledge: The immersive, interactive feel and the vibrant and creatively detailed illustrations that evoke an old-fashioned candy shop will sustain readers’ attention.

Scrumptiously entertaining and informative.