Eventually, they have the last laugh, selling huge quantities of their ice cream all over the U.S.īut this part of their story is almost a preamble, because “…the believed that they could use ice cream to help make the world a better place.” Robinson describes their committed environmentalism, their foundation they started to fund social activism, and their advocacy for inclusion and diversity. When the corporate behemoth Pillsbury threatens to shut them down, these two socially conscious guys from Long Island complain to the Federal Trade Commission. Conceiving and developing every aspect of their unusual plan, Ben and Jerry go from mixing ingredients to getting it onto store shelves. When they decide to start their own business, “they will be their own bosses,” a goal attractive to children and adults alike. They showed an impressive work ethic, but met with many disappointments. They loved biking, art, science, and, of course, food. Young readers will be engaged by the legitimate story of Ben and Jerry as underdogs. Pictures offer free association, as in the small American flag atop a serving of Empower Mint, or again, those cows, this time taking a meeting with Ben and Jerry outdoors, under pastel clouds. There are the boys’ bicycles with playing cards in the wheels’ spokes, the young pair confronted with a broken toilet in their gas station, and the serious faces demonstrating for peace in the 1960s. Innerst’s color palette shouts “ice cream,” but the reader does not live by food alone.

There are lifelike drawings that capture Ben and Jerry’s personalities, and fanciful elements such as joking cows and possible ice cream ideas floating over their inventors’ heads. Whatever subject he illustrates, his pictures become an embodiment of that person and his or her era. The book is indeed sweet, even if Ben and Jerry’s ostensible role as revolutionaries is a bit overstated.įirst, the best part of the book is Innerst’s art. The result is a kind of iconography, but with clever text, lots of humor, and outstandingly expressive pictures by the inimitable Stacy Innerst (see other of his books I have reviewed here and here). In Lisa Robinson’s account, the pair’s social activism really sets them apart, perhaps even more than their Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia. They deserve credit for their accomplishment. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are incredibly successful entrepreneurs who created a product and figured out how to market it. Authors need to decide, based on the length, scope, and audience of the book, what needs to be included. Even the most laudable people usually have acted in ways which make them vulnerable to criticism.

Any picture book biography for young readers will necessarily simplify its subject’s life.

The Sweetest Scoop by Lisa Robinson