HOW DO YOU RAISE A RAISIN?

Offering quite a tasty ode to the perfect snack, Ryan raises queries in a little rhymed ditty and then answers in prose. Readers learn, for instance, that 90 percent of raisins sold in the US come from around Fresno, California, and that 95 percent of that crop is the Thompson Seedless grape, named for the man who introduced the Lady de Coverly green seedless grape to California. Facts include how raisins are grown, cut, dried, and processed, some history (the ancient Phoenicians produced muscat raisins from muscat grapes; tiny seedless grapes grown near Corinth, Greece, called raisin de Corauntz, became currants), and even a recipe or three. Brown’s marker-and-pastel pictures are boldly drawn with the same whimsical approach as the verse—drying raisins lie on beach blankets in the sun, and tiny fairy princesses stuff raisin boxes full. One can have one’s chocolate or popcorn; youngsters devoted to those cute little boxes of sweet dried treats will revel in learning all about them. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)