The Chewing Gum Book

by Robert Scott Young

Discusses chewing gum, its forms and flavors, its history and technology, and its various uses.

Library Binding

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

See also Robert Young

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

With his 1989 The Chewing Gum Book (which in my humble opinion is textually meant for young readers from about the age of eight to twelve or thirteen who want and/or need a simple, not too intensive but also sufficiently extensive introduction to chewing gum, and with my main caveat regarding the information provided in The Chewing Gum Book being that with a publication date of 1989 many of the health risks of artificial sweeteners regarding sugarless gum are not yet all that prominently presented and at best just briefly being alluded to), Robert Scott Young provides an international history of chewing gum, of the many types, such as chicle, paraffin and spruce gum as well as our modern, our contemporary chemically manufactured latex-based gum types (but just to point out that The Chewing Gum Book covers ONLY gum so that Young's presented text does not mention other popular chewed items, such as betel nuts, khat leaves, tobacco and which in my opinion is also a good thing indeed, considering not only the health risks but also the stigma associated with in particular betel nut and tobacco chewing).

Now in The Chewing Gum Book Robert Scott Young nicely clearly (without using annoyingly difficult scientific or manufacturing themed jargon) and with a writing style that is both approachable and engaging features and examines the development and the international spread (the proliferation) of different chewing gum textures, forms (including dental and bubble gum), flavours, marketing techniques (and which is also organised into an appreciated historical time line at the back of The Chewing Gum Book), with one chapter of The Chewing Gum Book in fact very specifically examining the entire modern gum manufacturing process from the list of ingredients through the many mechanised stages to the finished products, and yes, also accompanied by photographs of several process steps (but that unfortunately the accompanying black and white photographs for The Chewing Gum Book are all a trifle visually blurry and should in my opinion also have some colour photography included as well). Furthermore, Young with The Chewing Gum Book equally examines both scientifically proven benefits of chewing gum and also possible problems regarding gum chewing (for example, that gum can help people quit smoking, that sugarless gum is good for dental hygiene but that gum is not all that biodegradable and that chewing gum in public and especially snapping, popping gum and blowing bubbles is kind of loud, is rude and should really only be done when someone is by themselves, when alone).

Educational, enlightening is The Chewing Gum Book, but yes, even though I do recommend what Robert Scott Young has penned (even for 2025, even for today's children) the unavoidable datedness must be mentioned (and that due to the 1989 publication date of The Chewing Gum Book, any numerical data featured by Young should probably be verified to see if there have been any changes since 1989, and the same of course holds true for the health concerns regarding artificial sweeteners already mentioned above). Still an excellent factual introduction to chewing gum for young readers and with the only reason why my rating for The Chewing Gum Book is not four but three stars being that the absence of any and all source acknowledgments, that there are no footnotes, no endnotes and no bibliography provided by Robert Scott Young is hugely academically frustrating, annoying and as such also lowers the educational value of The Chewing Gum Book more than a bit for me (for not only adult me but also for my inner child).