Ice Cream: the Full Scoop

Gail Gibbons writes wonderful nonfiction texts for children called Ice Cream:  the Full Scoop.  Her books are excellent mentor texts for “All About Book” unit of study or any nonfiction writing.

Besides ice cream being a favorite comfort food for me, the book appeals to me through Gail’s voice.  Gail has a sense of her audience.  Not that other authors don’t.  Her choice of words, uniquely crafted sections, flow easily for a young child to grasp.  Gail speaks to me, the reader.  Notice how her introduction makes you pleasantly agree and then addresses you with a sprinkle of history.  who would have thought a first grader would even listen to events years ago.  Yet Gail Gibbons does it.  Listen to her.

“Almost everyone loves to eat sweet, cold ice cream.”

I’m thinking – Umm Hmm. Yep!  You turn the page and she says,

“No one really knows how or when the first ice cream was made.”

Really?  Wow.  In this day and age of information, that’s amazing. Her illustrations feature children and adults to appeal to their level, making them feel welcome.

Gail Gibbons uses subsections in her book.  It’s like Gail wrote a feature article on ice cream.  The subheadings break the book into sections.  The she decided to illustrate that information and changed structure to a narrative nonfiction text.  Creative.

Savorings for reading and in writing Ice Cream:  the Full Scoop:

• Magic of 3 Introduction – cones, bars, sodas
• Narrative Nonfiction – history sprinkled in
• How to section
• Chapter like with Sub Sections – introduction, ice cream maker, ice cream business, modern-day, conclusion
• Vocabulary – pasteurizer, homogenizer