The Good Humor Man

by Golden Books

Ting-a-ling-a-ling! Here comes the Good Humor® Man! He brings walnut whizzes and dairy dizzies, chocolate chips and strawberry splits–all while bringing friends together and finding a lost puppy! This bestselling Little Golden Book Classic is now available as a Big Little Golden Book.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Kids

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

In 1942, the launch of Little Golden Books revolutionized children’s book publishing by making high-quality picture books available at affordable prices. More than 60 years later, many of the original Golden Book titles are still wildly popular, with The Poky Little Puppy topping the list of ten bestselling children’s books of all time. Golden Books’ backlist is teeming with classics such as Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny, and features the stories and artwork of children’s book legends Mary Blair, Margaret Wise Brown, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkins, Garth Williams, and many more. Today, the Golden Books imprint includes an array of storybooks, novelty books, and coloring and activity books featuring all of the most popular licenses, including Disney, Nickelodeon, Barbie, Thomas & Friends, The Cat in the Hat, Sesame Street, Marvel Super Heroes, and DC Super Friends. Golden Books continues to reissue the best of its backlist in a variety of formats, including ebooks and apps, as well as bringing out brand-new books in these evolving new formats.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid, we lived just two miles from town. Since it was the late sixties, nearly every household contained one to four children potential customers, and yet . . . the ice cream truck NEVER visited our neighborhood. Now I'm all grown up, and I live in a development six miles away from town. Out of 53 houses in my neighborhood, there are exactly five kids, and yet the oddly named Funky Freezer truck comes chugging up the hill at least once a week, playing a truly awful rendition of "Turkey in the Straw" - a song that has nothing to do with summer OR ice cream. But today, it made its final pass for the year. I (hopefully) won't have that song stuck in my head again until late next May. Every year I wonder why they bother coming here, and why a flourishing customer base was ignored all those decades ago . . . but that has nothing to do with this delightful little book.

In these colorful pages with pictures by Tibor Gergely - his very name sounds like a yummy frozen treat - we accompany the always-smiling Good Humor man on his rounds.



He goes all over town, and all the happy citizens drop whatever they're doing to partake of his delicious wares!



And, just imagine this - he even drives W-A-A-A-A-Y out of town to deliver a flakey frosty to Granny Griggs' small grandson Dick.



Hmm. Imagine that - an ice cream truck leaving town to serve only ONE customer. (Not that I'm bitter . . . )

Anyway, my favorite page is when the Good Humor Man takes his truck home for the night to this magical place known as Fun Valley.


What a fantastical, scrumpdillyicious world!


Screw that Candy Man guy; it's the Good Humor man who makes the world taste good.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this classic “Little Golden Book”? This has to be read in a certain ‘1950’s’ Fred MacMurray voice to really get the complete effect. There is a subtle darkness to the book and it’s sort of covered over with a shiny ice cream truck gloss. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the way one of the kids is referred to is strangely cruel - in a homespun kind of way.
This, along with the Tawny, Scrawny Lion are some of the go-to’s with young crowd in my house hold.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic!

You can totally convince your five year old to read a story about ice cream. This is an old story that has stood the test of time. And the illustrations by Tibor Gergley are so fun.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

We got a pack of these classic Golden books as a gift and this one is one of our favorites!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ting-a-ling-a-ling! Leave your wife, children, and lover because the good humor man is coming down the street, and he's delivering exceptionally delicious treats for all! There are banana splits, root beer floats, pineapple, and coconut galore. This book made me hungry. It reminded me of when I was a child and ran out to the end of the drive to hail down the ice cream man, who once cheated me. Instead of giving me my change back, he gave me bubble gum and pocketed my money. I was only eight years old then. My parents were upset that a grown man took advantage of me like that. There's a subplot about a lonely boy looking for friendship. This would be perfect for reading when it's hot in the summertime, and you're craving ice cream or a good humor man--ring-a-ding-ding.

[Little Seesaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guess what? THe good Humor man is not a funny comedian. He is actually an ice cream man. If I would have looked closer at the picture I would have been able to figure this out. This is actually a pretty darn cute book.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts of the book rhyme and are catchy, and other parts are just normal story-telling, which makes it a very frustrating out-loud read.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking a trip down memory lane. I picked up a book for adults containing all different bits of wisdom we obtained from reading Golden books. I was unfamiliar with some of the references and others I just forgot about the gist of the books, so I ordered the originals from my library to enjoy.