Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 04/01/2015 A young boy answers a letter from his grandfather, detailing his summer studies in anticipation of a “special trip” at summer’s end. But somehow everything in the boy’s letter is suffused with ice cream! He tells of his math work, and we see him starting with 10 scoops and losing 3. He practices cartography, and we see a map built of flavorful ingredients. He studies world history, and we see the advent of ice cream, traced from China, through Italy, across Europe, and over to America. And all of this endeavor is perfect preparation for the pair’s journey to climb Ice Cream Peak. Sís’ imaginative interpretations feature bright blocks of imagery with simple, symmetrical composition laid above spare, multicolor text. Watercolor washes in sweet jewel tones illuminate the boy’s account, offering lots of surreptitious information among the details. This delectable amalgam of historical record and confectionery celebration is both a delight for the eyes and an inspiration for the tummy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sís is that all-too-rare combination: best-selling and award-winning. While we don’t know if either of those fates await this one, we do expect demand for Ice Cream this summer. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 K-Gr 2—In response to a letter from his Grandpa, Joe is happy to convince his grandfather that he deserves a special trip planned for later in the summer. He is definitely not forgetting about his schoolwork. Joe is reading, writing a book, solving word problems, studying history, and even learning cartography. What he doesn't mention is that he is learning all of this through his fascination with ice cream. Joe eats it and draws it, builds it and dreams it, and even knows the ins and outs of how it came to be. When Joe finds out where they are going on their special trip, it is the cherry on top of a fantastic summer. This book is fabulous for teachers introducing a unit on letter writing or research skills. The facts about how ice cream was invented are interesting and presented in a cartoonlike manner that children will find entertaining. Sís's illustrations are done in a beautiful rainbow of watercolor, making readers feel the warmth of summer and the cool delight associated with this delicious treat. Children will love finding all of the ways that ice cream is incorporated into each picture. VERDICT A great choice as a tool for teaching or simply as an enjoyable read.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2015 A boy happily reports his summer doings to his grandfather in this amusingly broad-ranging treatment of ice cream. Our narrator dutifully reads every day (the menu at the ice cream place) and practices his math (when you have 10 scoops and 7 fall, how many do you have left?); at camp he makes maps (with sundae ingredients as the locations) and goes on field trips (the Statue of Liberty’s torch is now a stripey soft-serve cone), and of course he studies history (the origin of ice cream and its development into a popular treat). The framing concept is slender, but it’s merely an excuse to play with ice cream, so who really cares? The Wonka-esque world where everything is steeped in dairy sweets is genuinely inviting, and the several-page sequence with in-art explanations of ice cream’s history from 2000 years ago in China to the early 20th century is the cherry on top, making dessert feel like a historical tribute. The art’s delicate stippled borders and tranquil intricacy is classic Sís, here in a particularly sweet and sunny palette. The layout anchors the narrator’s text below the art on each page, slyly setting up the contrast between the conventional descriptions and the fantastical reality of the boy’s summer. The real fun, of course, is hunting through the art for ice cream cones, which infiltrate everything-the boy’s room is thick with them, from the cone-shaped lamps to the toy bird with a cone-shaped head, and the encyclopedia the boy pores over has volume after volume of ice-cream-shaped subjects. The in-art text and its intricate vignettes makes the book best suited for reading (and digging through the illustrations) alone, but art-loving and ice-cream mad kids may also enjoy sharing this with an adult. The copyright page includes a brief note and a few ice cream-related sources. DS - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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