George Crum and the Saratoga Chip - Hardcover

Gaylia Taylor (Author), Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1584302550 ISBN 13: 9781584302551

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2006

Synopsis

Explains how George Crum became a chef and invented the potato chip.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Growing up in the 1830s in Saratoga Springs, New York, isn't easy for George Crum. Picked on at school because of the color of his skin, George escapes into his favorite pastimes hunting and fishing.

Soon George learns to cook too, and as a young man he lands a job as chef at the fancy Moon's Lake House. George loves his work, except for the fussy customers, who are always complaining! One hot day George's patience boils over, and he cooks up a potato dish so unique it changes his life forever.

Readers will delight in this spirited story of the invention of the potato chip one of America's favorite snack foods. George Crum and the Saratoga Chip is a testament to human ingenuity, and a tasty slice of culinary history.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-5 This lively story of the inventor of the potato chip begins with Crum's 1830s childhood in the Adirondacks, where his feisty streak gave him resilience in the face of prejudice against his Native American/African-American heritage. He combined a passion for cooking with a perfectionist bent and was hired as a chef at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, where he created popular wild game and fish dishes. His encounters with fussy and demanding patrons led to the innovative idea of thinly sliced, deep-fried potatoes as the ultimate French fry, and his fame spread rapidly. He eventually opened his own restaurant, Crum's Place, where everyone was treated equally, regardless of race or wealth. Taylor notes that the story is based on the more substantiated existing facts about a man whose life is largely undocumented. She writes clearly and compassionately, and treats topics of culinary history and race relations in an inviting manner. Crum is multidimensional in depiction, and readers can practically taste his crisp, freshly prepared chips. Morrison's richly colored acrylic illustrations have a comical look; the elongated figures shown from unusual angles create stylized exaggeration and burst with life. This book contains sufficient detail to interest older students, and its appealing format will assure its popularity as a read-aloud for the primary grades. Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
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About this edition

• Publisher: Lee & Low Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1584302550
• ISBN 13: 9781584302551
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32