[review + giveaway] Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament by Anne Renaud and Felicita Sala

~ jama

Crisp, crunch, snap, munch.

Pardon me while I lick the salt off my fingers.

Mmmmmmmm, potato chips!

We all love them, but who actually invented them?

Some say it was George Crum, a Saratoga Springs chef working at Moon’s Lake House in 1853. In Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament (Kids Can Press, 2017), author Anne Renaud and illustrator Felicita Sala serve up a taste-bud-tempting tater tale showing how Crum’s culinary clash with a picky patron accidentally led to the creation of the first c-r-i-s-p-y chip. 🙂

The story you are about to savor is a fictional tale with a helping of truth.

With those appetizing words, we meet George Crum, busy in his kitchen.

He fricasséed and flambéed, boiled and braised, poached and puréed. He made sorbets and soufflés, stews and succotashes, ragouts and goulashes.

Make no spuds about it, George loved what he did and he was really good at it. He had his own restaurant, Crum’s Place, where he and his plum-cheeked waitress Gladys kept customers happy devouring his choice concoctions.

George was considered to be the best cook in the county — until one fateful day, when a certain Filbert P. Horsefeathers walked in and ordered a “heaping helping of potatoes.”

Filbert was “peculiar-looking,” and with a middle name like “Punctilious,” George and Gladys should have known they were in for a challenge.

 

But George was pretty confident his potato wedges would please the punctilious one. Why wouldn’t they? Everyone else loved them.

Well, there’s a first time for everything. Filbert pooh-poohed George’s potatoes and sent them back because they were “too thick.”

No customer had ever refused George’s cooking before.

Undaunted, George simply prepared a platter of thinner wedges for Mr. Horsefeathers, who took a “teeny, tiny nibble” before proclaiming them still too thick and (*gulp*) “bland as burlap.”

Hoo Boy.

 

But George was a pro and determined to please fussy Filbert no matter what. This time, even thinner wedges with extra salt.

Alas and alack. Filbert took a “bean-sized bite” before rejecting the third batch. Not only were they bland, but undercooked. Gladys couldn’t help but “tut-tut” and “tsk-tsk,” because dem’s fighting words.

George was beside himself. How could anyone not like his scrumptious, succulent, sublime potatoes? Rather than let frustration get the better of him, prankster George decided to face off finicky Filbert with fun. He took a sharp knife and shaved “the thinnest, slimmest, and trimmest” slices he could from a potato. He fried those rascals till they were crisp and crackly, and then “showered them with salt.”

 

Oh, the suspense as they watched how Filbert would react!

 

After a splinter, a crack, and a snap, Filbert popped one in his mouth and . . . proclaimed them to be PERFECTION!

Then he “gobbled up every last morsel.”

Gladys and George were stunned and had to taste some for themselves. They loved them too, so George decided to put a plateful of Crum’s Crisp Crispies on every table from then on.

Renaud’s narrative is rollicking good fun to read aloud as it’s laced with loads of crunchy, feel-good-in-the-mouth alliterative phrases and perky expressions, like Gladys’s exclamations “huckleberry biscuits!” and “flying flapjacks!” After Gladys tastes the potato crisps for the first time, she says her “taste buds are tap dancing.” Can’t beat that kind of colorful enthusiasm.

And who doesn’t love saying “prickly porcupine pie”?

 

Kids will also “drool” over George’s exotic menu: “Stewed Skunk in Sassafras Sauce, Pickled Possum Pancakes, and Grilled Groundhog en Croûte.” I can already hear the collective “ewwwww.” 😀

Felicita Sala’s colored pencil and watercolor illustrations are exquisitely delicious and delightful. Love how she’s populated the pages with a diverse cast of characters dressed in period garb ( I do have a weakness for waistcoats, mustaches, and derby hats). She’s depicted Filbert P. Horsefeathers as appropriately persnickety with his purple polka-dotted cravat and sunflower on his lapel. The close-ups of him tasting the potatoes pull the reader right into the action as we anxiously await Filbert’s reactions.

Each page turn is chock full of fetching details, from George’s kitchen stocked with pots, pans, cooking utensils and pantry supplies, to the dining room with its plates and bowls of scrumptious eats.

Both George and his sister Kate Weeks worked as cooks at Moon’s Lake House.

By now you may be wondering how much of this story is actually true. Renaud’s Author’s Note confirms that George Crum, who was of Native American and African American descent, was indeed a real person and a fine cook, but that the story of him dealing with a picky customer is the stuff of popular legend. She cites several cookbooks with recipes for wafer-thin fried potatoes published before 1853, so there really is no way of knowing just who made the first “potato chips.”

It is true that George once owned his own restaurant and also cooked at Moon’s Lake House, where crisp potatoes were a customer favorite. Safe to say, he’s one of the cooks from the region who helped develop and popularize “Saratoga Chips,” as addictive then as they are now.

Some believe potato chips were born here, at Moon’s Lake House, Lake Saratoga.

 

Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament is a fun way for kids to see how a little ingenuity and a happy accident can have delicious results. With its toothsome vocabulary, lively pace, and fetching illustrations, the book will have them clamoring for repeated readings and more more more potato chips. 🙂

 

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MR. CRUM’S POTATO PREDICAMENT
written by Anne Renaud
illustrated by Felicita Sala
published by Kids Can Press, September 2017
Historical Fiction Picture Book for ages 5+, 40 pp.
*Includes Author’s Note (with photos) and List of Sources

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📘 SPECIAL BOOK GIVEAWAY! 📗

So, what is your favorite kind of potato chip?

Tell us in a comment here for a chance to win a copy of Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, no later than midnight (EST) Tuesday, March 13, 2018. You may also enter the giveaway by sending an email with POTATO CHIPS in the subject line to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, please. Good Luck!

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NOTE: An entire bag of Kettle potato chips was consumed while writing this post. This enormous sacrifice was gladly made on your behalf. Tough work, but somebody’s gotta do it. 😀

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This post is being linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, where all are invited to share their food-related posts. Put on your best aprons and bibs, and come join the fun!

*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you purchase something using a link on this site, Jama’s Alphabet Soup will receive a small referral fee (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support.

**Copyright © 2018 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

51 thoughts on “[review + giveaway] Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament by Anne Renaud and Felicita Sala”

  3. I’ve recently fallen in love with Cape Cod kettle-cooked chips, Jama, but try not to eat too many, though they are very tasty. What a fun story created from a little bit of history. I imagine kids will love it with a “snack break”! Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Always have tried to stay away from potatoes, pasta, and bread. My yummy downfalls. My husband loves Lay’s Original Potato Chips–thin and crispy. I sneak some from him! It’s legal then! Mr. Crum sounds like a winner book to me. Kids are fascinated with how things began. Thanks, Jama.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. This tale sounds like a delightful combination of fact and fiction, with language that’s as tasty as a bowl of potato chips! I am not a connoisseur of chips, but like Linda, I enjoy an occasional bag of Cape Cod chips.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The perky language in this book is wonderful. Yes to Cape Cod chips — can’t have them in the house since I can’t stop eating them.

      Like

  7. Ha! I was just reading your post when your comment came in on mine. This book looks fabulous–love the language, love the art, love the almost-sorta-kinda true story. And, as so often happens when reading your posts, my stomach was growling by the end. As for chips, I can resist the potato variety for some reason. But blue corn chips? Yum!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Mental telepathy since we were reading each other’s posts at the same time. I’d been good about resisting potato chips for years — but then fell off the wagon while reading and reviewing this book. Now I’m hooked again.

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  11. Ohhh! Potato chips — my favorite food group! And, difficult as it is to choose, I think I love those ruffle ones — salty and fancy all at once. This book is a must for my library. What a great review, Jama! Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Maui-style potato chips are still the best. “Kitchn cooked(?)” was the first. But there are many other similar varieties these days. Love the typical thick cut with onion flavoring.!
    Thanks for bringing all these food themed books to our attention. Now, if there only ..was a beautifully illustrated children’s book about rice balls (nigiri?). I saw a clip on the old show, “Soko Ga Shiritai” that highlighted a family business devoted to rice balls. They kept the prices low because school children passed by & benefited from the affordability.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, I love Maui-style chips. Kitchn Cook’d is the best, though there are many copy cats. Love rice balls too. 🙂

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  13. Ruffles Jalapeno Ranch chips. Oh my. Too tasty. The book looks like such fun. Jama, you always do the most amazing reviews! Your words and photos are so delicious and delightful!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. This was the perfect time for me to read this post because I had homemade potato chips today. I have a favorite burger place and they have what they call twister fries…but they are just like potato chips made right on the spot. I love them! And then I read this tonight and my mouth is watering for more. I guess I’m like Filbert and proclaim “Perfection!” with each bite!
    Thanks for a really fun post on what looks like a really fun book!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Can I say–all! 🙂 If I had to pick a favorite it is probably Lays with homemade sour cream and onion dip. Wonderful post. This book is exactly the type I love (and not because it is about food)! Thanks for the recommendation.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hope you get to see the book soon — and I sense you need to munch on some Lays with onion dip this weekend. 🙂

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  18. What a fun, creative way of presenting my book. So happy you enjoyed it. I have to say I did do a lot of munching and crunching while researching the subject. I even went to the Potato Chip Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY. Best, Anne Renaud

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, Potato Chip Festival!! Sounds like delicious research, Anne. I had fun reviewing this book, but it was dangerous . . . 🙂

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  20. What a delightful book: I didn’t know the story of potato chips (despite loving them!). I love the illustrations; too funny to think about spearing a chip with a fork. A brew pub near us makes their own potato chips and I can’t resist them.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. What a fun book! I love the illustrations and the ‘plum-cheeked’ Gladys. I think I may have to start saying ‘huckleberry biscuits’ instead of a curse word! 😉

    I am addicted to Kettle Chip’s Dill Pickle flavor–it has just the right amount of pickle flavor and great texture but they are dangerous for me to have around! 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Well, a favorite chip is a hard thing to decide on as I love just about all chips! But I will say Maui Sweet Onion flavor.
    Great book with lovely illustrations.

    Like

  25. I enjoyed the review very much, Jama, Anne’s fearless use of ‘big words,’ and Felicita’s illustrations make me smile. Looking forward to turning the pages of “Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament” on my own kitchen table (where I read my favorite picture books).

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  26. Pingback: chronological book review archive (2008-2018) | Jama's Alphabet Soup

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