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Overview
Gum. It’s been around for centuries—from the ancient Greeks to the American Indians, everyone’s chewed it. But the best kind of gum—bubble gum!—wasn’t invented until 1928, when an enterprising young accountant at Fleer Gum and Candy used his spare time to experiment with different recipes. Bubble-blowing kids everywhere will be delighted with Megan McCarthy’s entertaining pictures and engaging fun facts as they learn the history behind the pink perfection of Dubble Bubble.
Synopsis
Gum has been around for centuries. The ancient Greeks chewed sap from mastic trees. The American Indians chewed spruce resin. Men in top hats and women in puffy dresses chewed gum to cure things like stomachaches. Gum wasn't that exciting. But what if gum chewers could blow bubbles while chewing it?
In the late 1920s a factory in Philadelphia was working on a top secret project. Month after month the workers experimented with different ingredients and formulas. And month after month all they had to show for their hard work was a big sticky mess. Would there be no bubble gum? Sometimes the best inventions come from the most unexpected places...
Full of fun historical facts, Pop! is the true story of how bubble gum was invented.
Publishers Weekly
Walter Diemer, an accountant with the Fleer chewing gum company, slowly begins experimenting with ingredients, trying to create bubblegum. One batch is a near miss—his co-workers happily blow bubbles, but “the next day the mixture was as hard as a rock.” But with time, “top secret ingredients,” and the now classic pink coloring, he finally nails it: at a mom-and-pop store, kids blow bubbles for the first time. McCarthy’s thickly painted acrylic cartoons create an expressive 1920s backdrop with bug-eyed characters dressed in the era’s fashions. A closing section supplies numerous facts about gum. Unlike its subject matter, this history lesson is easily digestible. Ages 4-8. (May)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Walter Diemer, an accountant with the Fleer chewing gum company, slowly begins experimenting with ingredients, trying to create bubblegum. One batch is a near miss—his co-workers happily blow bubbles, but “the next day the mixture was as hard as a rock.” But with time, “top secret ingredients,” and the now classic pink coloring, he finally nails it: at a mom-and-pop store, kids blow bubbles for the first time. McCarthy’s thickly painted acrylic cartoons create an expressive 1920s backdrop with bug-eyed characters dressed in the era’s fashions. A closing section supplies numerous facts about gum. Unlike its subject matter, this history lesson is easily digestible. Ages 4-8. (May)From the Publisher
"A sweetly told, worthy tale—the world needs more heroes like Walter." - KIRKUS"What a good idea for a book! Kids who enjoy blowing gum bubbles may never have considered how the
treat came to be, but here, in easy language and with amusing illustrations, McCarthy changes that." —BOOKLIST
"Picture books make the perfect introduction to some subjects. "Pop!" will tell young readers all they need to know about the reinvention of one of history's most popular treats, and the witty drawings tell the rest." —New York Times, August 15th 2010.