The Ice Cream Machine: 6 Deliciously Different Stories with the Same Exact Name!

by Adam Rubin

Don’t miss the #1 New York Times bestseller everyone is raving about! From the wild and wonderful imagination of the author of Dragons Love Tacos comes this hilarious, irresistible debut collection of six totally different stories with the same exact name. Now in paperback!

In these six stories, set in six distinct worlds, you’ll meet a boy and his robot nanny traveling the globe in search of the world’s tastiest treat, a child mechanical prodigy who invents the freshest dessert ever , and an evil ice cream truck driver who strikes fear in the heart of every kid in town. 

You’ll be transported to a beachside boardwalk with an ice cream stand run by a penguin, a hilltop realm ruled by a king with a sweet tooth, and a giant alien space lab with a lone human subject who longs for a taste of home. 

Each story features black-and-white interior illustrations from a different artist, including Daniel Salmieri, Charles Santoso, Liniers, Emily Hughes, Nicole Miles, and Seaerra Miller, making this book unlike any you've ever seen. And exclusive to the paperback, you'll also find six more stories inspired by The Ice Cream Machine , written by kids like you and hand-picked by Adam Rubin himself! So grab a cup or a cone, and watch out for brain freeze! You'll definitely want to save room for this treat.

Genres: Middle Grade, Short Stories, Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Childrens, Chapter Books

432 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2022

About the author

Adam Rubin is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of ten critically-acclaimed picture books, including the Those Darn Squirrels trilogy, Dragons Love Tacos, Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel, Secret Pizza Party, Robo-Sauce and El Chupacabras (winner of the 2020 Texas Blue Bonnet award). In between writing projects, he designs and collects optical illusions, puzzles and games. His favorite color is blue, his favorite food is fried chicken, and his favorite animal is the otter. Adam currently lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s not important for you to know why I read this, just important that you know you should not.


or at least skip #6. my god. what was he THINKING.


EDIT: Okay that was a little mean 🙄, I really only hated the sixth story, but I found problems within a couple of others as well. I think my biggest complaint other than content is just how weak the premise is. Like, really? A short story collection where the only thing they have in common is you gave them all the same lackluster title? The author mentions some “wormhole connections”, which I took for a multiverse cross-over type of experience, but NOPE. They literally intersect zero times. Big bummer because this book was deceptively long.


**For more book talk & reviews, follow me on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exuberant and original, this book captures six different takes on the Ice Cream Machine. Each story features black-and-white illustrations created by some of the biggest names in the children's book industry like Emily Hughes, Seaerra Miller, Charles Santoso, and more. Whether it’s about robots, inventors, or a sweet treat, you’ll find your flavor in this book.

My kids loved the author's "Darn Squirrel" series and the "Dragons Love Tacos" books, so we devoured this book too. Each story is unique, funny, a little scary, and all are cleverly linked by the theme of every kid’s favorite dessert. Once we started reading, we could not stop. One of the most extraordinary things about the book includes an unfinished story, which inspires kids to finish their own story. If you take the cover off the hard-bound book, it is an envelope so kids can mail their story back to the author who plans to create a special section in his next collection.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at: https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/ada...

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the format that Adam Rubin followed—writing six stories all related to ice cream in one way or another. I don’t think middle readers get enough exposure to short stories. These are fun because they’re very tangentially related, if you read carefully. The humor wasn’t my style but I can see how 4th, 5th and 6th graders would love it. And, he encourages them to write their own stories!

[Jessica F · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 35%

Wow. I listened to the first two stories and couldn't stand to listen any longer (though I've heard the other stories get better). While there was plenty of potty humor, there was little substance in these short stories. Rubin also made a terrible decision to don faux-accents while voicing foreign characters, and it comes across as REALLY cringy.

[elli · Rating 1 out of 5]

i definitely am not the target audience here, but i hated reading this book so much. i have so much built up anger surrounding this book and i wouldn't read it again even if i was paid to do so. ah yes ice cream. 🫠

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others but I really loved the intro :)

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stories with the same title, different genres, different settings, different characters... But all of them very, very fun to read!
Before the tales begin, the author shared experiences on writing, and I highlighted the following sentence:
"The tricky part (of writing) is giving yourself permission to think that your idea is a good idea. Some people have the opposite problem: they think all their ideas are good ideas. These people often go to politics."

And another from one of the stories:
"...there is no one lonelier than a bully."

1 - The one with the five-armed robot ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2 - The one with the ice cream eating contest ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 - The one with the genius inventor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 - The one with the evil ice cream man ⭐⭐⭐
5 - The one with the sorcerer's assistant ⭐⭐⭐

The sixth one is an invitation from Adam Rubin for the readers to writing their own ice cream story!
Loved it!

[Tori Rumschlag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and original. I enjoyed how each of the stories were a different genre, demonstrating the author's prowess across different styles. Each story, at its core, was a character-driven romp of fun escapades and childhood delights. Rubin's notes at the beginning and end of the book really makes the story, though - it is clear that he takes a keen interest in his readers and encouraging their love of writing.

[Ky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Run and get this book! Adam Rubin is SOOOOOO creative. I really enjoyed all of the stories. They made me smile and laugh. I highly recommend this to children and adults alike. It would probably be a great read aloud. As a teacher, I am keeping the stories in mind for some end of year reading when I have a few days to read something, but not enough time to start a book. Since there are several smaller stories in this book, it would work perfectly!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly an absolutely unique book. From the dust jacket that turns into an envelope, and the numerous contributions by incredible illustrators, to many stories with the same title and COMPLETELY different plots... definitely a book that middle grade readers will pick up and use for not only laughs and enjoyment, but also for writing inspiration. Well done, Adam and crew!

[Caed Baines · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sucks

I was so intrigued by the concept of six short stories that are completely different except they all have the same name. I was so intrigued that I literally wrote my own ice cream machine short story before reading this. I decided to finish my story before reading to avoid changing anything if it was similar or to avoid accidental inspiration from one of the stories. So at last I read it, and it is probably the biggest disappointment of the year.

PROBLEM NUMBER ONE
The stories are simply not creative enough. I am unconvinced that Adam Rubin actually wrote the book. In the introduction he talks about the reader writing themselves and proceeds to list out insane ideas while talking about how anything could be possible in the reader’s story. Yet what he actually writes is completely devoid of creativity or inspiration. Barely anything fantastical happens in the entire book. Now, I know some short stories can be real and grounded and still be very good, but these just feel afraid to take any bold swings. In fact, most of the stories feel copied or just plain generic. In the third story, an inventor girl has to make ice cream to save her farm from being taken by the bank. What kind of Hallmark plot line is that??? The first is about a kid getting lost in some woods, second is about a girl winning a regular shmegular ice cream eating contest, fourth is about basic, cliche neighborhood kids selling ice cream, and when you think it finally gets good with the fifth story being set in a magic kingdom, the only magic that actually happens is that some guy pours water into a cauldron and it turns into stew, and he does the same with ice cream. It’s a blatant copy of the sorcerer’s apprentice. That’s literally it. A sorcerer’s assistant tries to make ice cream while the actual wizard is gone and he ends up making way too much and it gets everywhere and makes a huge mess. THATS THE FREAKING SORCERERS APPRENTICE (but with ice cream instead of water so it’s totally different, right?). The final story is probably the only one I wouldn’t call bad, but it’s still something done many times. Originality is one major problem, but as I said earlier, every story is very small scale and most feel like it could happen in real life. Honestly, just sitting here, I can think of a million different concepts just from the phrase “ice cream machine” that are automatically bigger, bolder, and better than every story in this book. A society where everything revolves around an ice cream machine that consumes inferior humans and turns them into delectable treats for the elite members. A magic ice cream machine that grants mystical powers to the consumer based on which flavor they eat. An ice cream machine that allows you to access other dimensions to see your past choices and how those previous decisions would have shaped your life today. A shop owner who sucks out people’s souls to make the best ice cream possible. A boy finds a run down but sentient ice cream machine in the woods and realizes it has done horrible things in the past. In a post apocalyptic world, a special ice cream machine can cure a zombie but requires human parts as a fuel for the ice cream. An ice cream time machine. Adam gosh darn Rubin wrote six stories titled “the ice cream machine”and not a single one had an ice cream time machine. Sure, a lot of these hypothetical stories would be pretty dark, but they would sure be better than the uninspired shlop I just read.

PROBLEM NUMBER TWO
It’s targeted towards kids. Over time there have been some truly phenomenal pieces of media for kids. The Lego Movie. Bluey. Most 2000’s animated films. However, “the Ice Cream Machine” is NOT one of them. There is a plethora of fart jokes (need I say more?). The Lego Movie has jokes like “oh no, there were ready for that!” and this has a kid flossing in the fourth story. Yes, the dance that peaked in 2017 is unironically in a book published in 2022. It drains anything left that’s enjoyable in this Godforsaken book. The stories are really not that bad, I was gonna give this three stars until I read that the kid did the floss. It was so disgusting that it cost this book an entire star.

PROBLEM NUMBER THREE (this one really isn’t that bad)
In the introduction Adam Rubin teases the thought that these stories “have a half dozen little wormholes in common too, but I’ll let you discover those on your own.” Then if you turn the page you can see a list of everything that the stories have in common. Literally the next page is dedicated to highlighting the details that are prevalent through each one as if he thought our tiny brains were to dimwitted to notice each blatant inclusion in every story. They suck too. For instance there’s a sweet potato in each story. There’s a cherry tree in each story. A character says “jangus” in each story. No coherent themes. No items or characters appearing in multiple tales. Because that would actually be interesting and creative.

Anyways I’m gonna go write five more ice cream machine stories to prove that it’s possible without making six forgettable, superfluous, dull, uninspired, unfunny, thoughtless pieces of written media.
Don’t read this.
Write your own short story instead.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

After an introduction about how magical writing is when it comes to imagination and emotions, Mr. Rubin gives us six short stories that all involve an ice cream machine. These are almost long enough to be novellas. The stories are all very different and have brief descriptions about the story, e.g. "the one with the five-armed robot". This story involves Shiro, whose mother created a robot for him named Kelly. The two are well-known for their adventures, so when they are interested in ice cream, they travel all over the world trying different kinds, and even enter the jungle on their search. In "the one with the ice cream eating contest", Penelope, who lives in a town filled with anthropomorphic animals, finds that she doesn't get brain freeze when eating ice cream, and coerces the administrator of a local ice cream contest to let her enter. Rhonda, in, "the one with the genius inventor", lives on a farm with her father. Her mother has been in a coma since she was born, but is still alive and cared for. Rhonda tries to make all kind of time saving devices. The goofiest story involves Cromulous, who has an ice cream truck, but who must battle with a group of children to see who can deliver ice cream in the best way. Martin, an apprentice to a sorcerer, runs afoul of a spell and creates mountains of strawberry ice cream all over the town for a harvest festval, which was not exactly what he set out to do, and doesn't end particularly well until the sorceror returns with another assistant to fic things. In the final story, we see the hapless Phil, who is abducted by space aliens and questioned, but also finds a food producing box that keeps him fed with a lot of ice cream. The end of the book gives ideas for writing ones own story, and even has Mr. Rubin's address so that students can show him what they have been inspired to write.

When I started in my library twenty years ago, there was a whole book case full of Story Collection books (SC), but the books did not check out at all, so I moved them all into fiction. I did buy the Scary Stories books, as well as San Souci's Short and Shivery series and the Guys Read short story books, but even those doen't circulate all that well. Of course, this year I had several teachers ASK for short story collections, which is a first. I had bought several of the collections with cultural connections, so was able to get books like Once Upon an Eid and Ancestor Approved to teachers who requested them.

This would be a good book to have to motivate students to write. Much of it is super goofy, with odd combinations of words and concepts. Students will be able to work their way through them even though the stories might get off task a bit.

[LitPick Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you think of when you hear the title The Ice Cream Machine? This book shows the magic of words through the telling of six short stories all titled The Ice Cream Machine. First, we learn about a boy Shiro Hanayama and his robot-nanny and their adventure exploring many types of ice cream such as gelato and kulfi! The next story is about a girl named Penelope Perez and her little sister Pam, who want to compete in an ice cream eating competition, but can they beat the "Ice Cream Machine" that wins the contest every year? Rhonda Helmie is the main character of the next story, and she is a genius inventor. After learning that her mother who passed away used to make the most delicious ice cream, Rhonda knows she must learn how. But will she ever be able to learn to make the ice cream as well as her mother did? Next, we have the story of Cromulous Blotch, an evil ice cream truck driver who terrorizes all the kids around. The 5th story is about a boy named Martin, who is the assistant of Socor the Sorcerer and is pushed into the position of Sorcerer when Socor unexpectedly leaves. Will he be able to master all his tricks, especially the magical ice cream making pot before the Harvest Festival and the birthday of the king? Lastly, we have the story of Phillip T. Washington, the only human subject in an alien space lab who desperately misses his home on earth. Phillip also misses ice cream, and he finds a mysterious machine that can make him as much ice cream as he wants! Together, The Ice Cream Machine tells the stories of six fascinating characters through individual short stories.
Opinion:
Overall, I loved reading this book. The first thing I enjoyed about this book was the format as it was very interesting to read a collection of short stories rather than one long book. I liked that each story involved completely different characters and settings, but all of the stories were written in a funny and entertaining tone. I think the author did a great job of thoroughly explaining the characters and settings every time a new story started, and this helped me keep track of everything in the stories. Another thing I liked was that each of the stories had an aspect of adventure or travel to them as this made the stories more thrilling to read. Some of the stories were a bit slower-paced, and some were faster-paced, and it was nice to have a variety for this. The author also included black and white drawings in all of the stories, which helped to visualize what was occurring in each story. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories, and it is an awesome book for any age!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the concept and front and back matter; three stars for the main contents, the collection of stories. Each story is titled "The Ice Cream Machine." Each is a different story--different setting, characters, type of "machine," etc. They're decent stories. Entertaining and fun. What I really love, though is the very idea of the book. The role modeling of inventive creative writing--and the invitation to participate at the end of the book. I took a look at the ebook version, in fact, and it includes copies of stories titled "The Ice Cream Machine" that young readers wrote and mailed to Rubin after reading the paper book. They would, I think, after being prompted by the book's introduction, "Writing Is Magic," which I absolutely love. Here's a bit of it:

And here's the most magical part: No matter how ridiculous, how outrageous, how downright impossible the things you make up are, once you put them in writing, they become real for whoever reads them. The people, places, and things that you plucked from thin air suddenly exist in someone else's imagination.

So here we go. You're about to enter a universe of my own invention. Multiple universes, in fact. If things go well, the time you spend in my multiverse might make you smile. If things go very well, you might laugh or gasp or even cry!

How incredible is that? Little black squiggles on paper, when placed in a certain order--when "spelled" correctly--gain powers. Writing enchants you to see things and feel things that don't really exist.

What else can you call it but magic?

A marvelous encouragement for young writers everywhere.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I just have to accept that Adam Rubin and I don't have the same sense of humor. At all. So many people love Dragons Love Tacos and I've always been pretty meh/*shrug emoji* about it. And this was the same. Like, I think there would be some kids that are into it, and I liked the idea of 6 very different short stories with the same title. And I liked some of the stories better than others, but I didn't laugh. Once. It just didn't work for me as a humor book. (I used my "funny" tag because I often use my reviews readalikes for kids to read, but to me it just wasn't funny.)

I'm still planning on booktalking it because I think there are kids for whom this would be their thing. And I do like that it ends with asking kids to think of their own story to write--encouraging reading and writing with kids is awesome. It just wasn't my thing.

[Jamie Klos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the idea for this book, especially the introduction, which was all about writing being for everyone and about using your imagination. Basically, this is a book of 5 short stories that all have the same title, but are all different genres. The stories might not all be bestsellers, but they are all wacky and fun, strange and unique. They are about topics that most kids will jump to read, including ice cream, robots, and aliens. There are fun cartoony illustrations sprinkled throughout. I love how Adam Rubin encourages kids to write their own stories and even includes his address in the back of the book! Overall very well done, and I think Adam Rubin fulfilled what he set out to accomplish: getting more kids interested in reading and writing. So much fun!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I just don't like short stories. I want to get to know a character - and just when you do, it's over. Not for me. None of these stories stood out or were memorable, beyond maybe some character's names. All in all - felt sort of empty - there was no heart - no genuine connection - like watching a cartoon, but even that does cartoons disservice because I love some animated series that have depth and heart. I loved the premise and idea, but felt like I was reading kids' writing. Each story could've been cut in half and still had the same plot, and it still would've felt a little tedious to read. 2 stars because my kids thought it was entertaining, but 1 star from me.

[Jude Morrissey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories - but it's the author's message to young readers (more particularly, young aspiring writers) that makes this book fantastic! Six short stories, all with the same title, encouraging youngsters to take their ideas and run (well, write) with them...just marvelous! Highly recommended for older kids/tweens who like to read and want to write but are nervous about where to start. Great addition to any children's collection or elementary/middle school library!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, the best part of the book was probably the “Writing is Magic” introduction, which brings you to stop and actually think about the simplest powers of written word. So I’d encourage anyone to pluck this off their library or bookstore shelves to read, at least, and then would mostly recommend the 2nd, 3rd and 5th stories (the ones with the ice cream eating contest, the genius inventor, and the sorcerer’s assistant)!

[Brieanna Wilkoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

For years I've heard about an author's voice, as distinct from a character's voice. I totally get it after reading this book. I love Adam Rubin's picture books, and reading his debut middle grade, especially this book with 6 unique stories within, I absolutely heard the author's voice in the words, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I also love creativity, and telling 6 wildly different stories all with the same title was clever and fun.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love how creative these authors are these days and how the publishing companies give them freedom to be creative. A great premise and to entice the young reader to write the next story and send it to Adam Rubin, brilliant. This parent thanks the author for inspiring young readers to write. Oh our favorite, hands down, the one on the farm. I might have had something in my eye when reading the conclusion on that one.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has hit an odd tone of being somehow both unmemorable in that I remember no real plot points, but also memorable with plot points that I do recall being a tad blah. The only redeeming value of this is the concept. This would be a great framework for a creative writing project.

The audio version was super awkward as the accent choices were not particularly well done.

Just . . . no . . .

[Geneil · Rating 4 out of 5]

We checked this out from the library because of the premise—several short stories with the same name, but entirely different from each other. The stories were fun, but I don’t think I would buy/need to reread any of them… but the introduction? Titled “Writing Is Magic,” and some of the best writing about writing (especially for a middle-grade audience) that I have ever read. I might buy a copy of the book just for that. :-)

[Barbara Demske · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my oldest son who is 11 and it was delightful. 6 short stories all entirely their own but with the same title and yes they all included icecream in some way! A great summer read! We voted on which was our favorite story and also it sparked ideas for our own ice cream machine stories!

[Corrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I taught creative writing to upper elementary or middle schoolers, because this would be the perfect book to share with them.

What a great way to show how many different ways you can view something like a title. I had my favorites (I'm still thinking about the inventor's ice cream machine), but there were no real clunkers in the collection.

[Abubakar Saeed · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book missing everything.
Some features to consider when choosing an Ice Maker include the size and capacity of the machine, the type of ice it produces, the presence of a self-cleaning feature, and the availability of additional features such as a water filter or automatic shut-off.

[Jeni Coxson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and unique book. It contained six short stories (although I wouldn’t say short, they were more mid length), with the common object of an ice cream machine tying them together. The stories were of all different genres, which kept things fresh and interesting. It was also a quick and easy way to try out genres that I wouldn’t normally approach.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ice Cream Machine is a compilation of six different short stories with the same title. This book is written for kids (10-12 year olds) who enjoy adventures and ice cream. There are several recurring items that Rubin has included in each story for the reading detective. It was a fun book to read!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept. I liked looking for the constants in each story - the cherry tree for example. I loved the message to young writers at the end of the 6 stories! The stories themselves were okay (#6 was my least favorite). Not sure my students will pick the book up, but I think the message to writers at the end of the book needs to be shared with all students.

[Acj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. My 7 year old and I love Adam Rubin and were excited to try this. It did feel long to get through, and I might have liked the concept better than the actual book. Nevertheless, I was totally won over by Rubin’s beginning and end notes to his readers, and his encouragement to experiment with storytelling and writing.