Review - Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament

Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament
by Anne Renaud
illustrated by Felicita Sala
Date: 2017
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 41
Format: e-book
Source: library

A mouthwatering tale of invention.

When a persnickety customer named Filbert P. Horsefeathers complains that George Crum’s fried potatoes are too thick, George makes them thinner. When Filbert insists they are still too thick, George makes them even thinner. But when the plate is sent back a third time, George mischievously decides to use his sharpest knife to cut paper-thin potato slices, which he fries until they are crackling and douses liberally with salt. At last, Filbert is satisfied, proclaiming, “Perfection!” Which they are. Because, quite by accident, George has invented potato chips!

Based on true events, this delicious tale will have kids clamoring for more, more, more!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book is actually a bit of a historical biographical sketch. George Crum was a real cook who, in the 1850s, helped popularize potato chips as a snack after a persnickety customer kept sending back his potato wedges because they were too thick. So George made them as thin as possible... and the potato chip as we know it was born!

I actually found the story kind of refreshing. It's set in the USA in the 1850s, and George Crum is partly African American... but he's not a slave. In fact, he has his own restaurant! So many of the books I read that feature this time period and African Americans are about slavery, so this was a bit different. (It takes place in New York, not the South, which explains the difference.) There are a couple of pages at the back that explain the true story of George Crum and his potato chips, with photographs.

The story may have been embellished a little, but it looks like the basic facts are the same. (Filbert P. Horsefeathers stands in for the picky customer. He, apparently, is made up.) So this is a fairly strong biographical picture book about the man who may be responsible for the chip aisle in grocery stores that we all take for granted today.

Quotable moment:

So, with a swish of his apron and a tap to his chef's hat, George got to work. He cut the potatoes into wedges, boiled them, fried them in a dollop of lard and sprinkled them with salt.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5