Chocolate: Riches from the Rainforest

by Robert Burleigh

Traces the history of chocolate from a drink of the Olmec and Maya and later in Europe to its popularity around the world today.

Genres: Food, Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Over the past 35 years, I have published poems, reviews, essays, many filmstrips and videos, and more than 40 children's picture books.

Born and raised in Chicago, I graduated from DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and later received an MA in humanities from the University of Chicago. I've published books for children since the early 1990s. My books - including numerous unpublished ones! - run a broad gamut, from stories geared for pre-schoolers to survival stories and biographies aimed at seven to eleven-year-olds. My work is wide-ranging because, basically, I'm a generalist by experience - and inclination!

In addition to writing, I paint regularly under the art name Burleigh Kronquist and have shown work in one-person and group shows in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere around the country.

-from robertburleigh.com

Reviews

[Lauma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for students in grades 3 to 8, this book combines a highly motivating topic with fantastic illustrations and interesting facts about the history and process of making chocolate. The text centers around answering three main questions, "Where does chocolate come from?", "Who figured it out?", and "What changed?" The text uses various font styles and sizes to emphasize important ideas and unusual facts. Illustrations are a combination of photographs, historical drawings and artifacts. The book ends with a glossary and Author's note.

I found this book to be well written on an enjoyable topic. I did not give it five stars, however, because I think it could have been better if the author would have included maps of the countries that were referenced as well as a time-line for historical perspective.

[NS-Christine Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered how chocolate is made? You will learn that and much more when you read “Chocolate: Riches from the Rainforest”!
Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao tree found in rainforests near the equator. Large pods full of white pulp hang from the cacao tree. The white pulp contains the seeds that don’t in fact taste like chocolate! They need to be fermented and roasted before they take on that deliciously familiar flavor!
The Mayans were the first people to use the seeds of the cacao tree to make a chocolate drink for their kings and priests. The Aztecs also drank chocolate and offered it to their gods. When Spanish conquistadors came to conquer the Aztecs, they were introduced to chocolate. Cortes called it “the divine drink which fights fatigue.” Not long after, chocolate was brought to Europe, and continued to grow in popularity.
This book not only explains how modern chocolate is made, but the interesting history of how it became so popular all over the world. The book is appropriate for 5th graders and up. Students will need some background information on the Mayans and Aztecs in order for a solid understanding of the history. The text is well written, but there aren’t very many photographs. It would be interesting to see the cacao farms and more photos about the chocolate making process.

[Amanda Deatherage · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all about chocolate and how it can to be the tasty treat we all know and love today. The book follows the progression of chocolate from the Olmecs discovering the cacao trees to how candy is made today. Before we had the delicious little sweets we have today, chocolate was used in drinks by the Mayans, the Spanish, the English, and other Europeans. There were even things called chocolate houses in the 1600's that popped up around England where people would meet to discuss politics, gamble, and drink chocolate. Chocolate was considered quite precious at a time, costing quite a bit and reserved only for royalty and those wealthy enough to afford it. People like Milton Hershey began working with chocolate and modifying how it was processed and started adding things to it like sugar. Soldiers in WW1 and WW2 used chocolate as an energy boost. Now chocolate is manufactured in a very elaborate system, and factories can produce "thousands of candy bars and treats every hour". I would definitely recommend this book to an elementary student. Most of them probably don't know that chocolate starts in a seed in the rainforest. Most students would probably find this book fascinating. Also, they'd be reading about chocolate, something almost every kid loves! The pictures that go along with the history of chocolate are very interesting-some photographs, some drawings from older centuries. The end papers are borderline mouth-watering; they are the same, both a huge assortment of different types of chocolates. The chocolates are in little paper holders, and some have sprinkles, or designs, or other little yummy additions to them. If you can't get a kid to read this book, maybe give them a piece of chocolate and then tell them that this book outlines who they can thank for that delicious treat they so often enjoy.

[Heleina Conejos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This book is a great introduction to the history and uses of the cacao bean, which, after a lengthy process, can turn into the edible chocolate loved by most. It also touches on statistics about chocolate, other uses, and its impact on human life, both as workers and consumers.

Classroom use: Not only is this book informative, but it can also be used as a basis for research on chocolate. I would ask students to identify topics that the book had mentioned, but want to know more about. For example, the author mentioned the use of cocoa butter in cosmetics. Students can research what kind of cosmetics has cocoa butter as an ingredient and its possible benefits and effects. This book can be used in the 4th grade and up.

[Sloane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It is really interesting and full of information. Did you know that a cacao seeds shell is as big as a football? I get this book nearly every time I go to the library. Who doesn't love chocolate?

I nominated this book for Book Wars, a library program on the website where you vote between two books. It was so cool because our library actually put this one on. It's competing against Cool Pizza to Make and Bake. We're winning so far. You could go vote for Chocolate on Kidspace if you wanted.

[Tina]

This was a FANTASTIC read! If you read nothing else about the history and science of chocolate, read THIS book!

Good pics, great info, and kept us interested all the way to the end.

This is a LONG picture book, and we had to take a few days to get through it in bursts, but since we bought some chocolate to eat while listening, no one complained, lol! Plus it was just so interesting!

My 13yr old declared, after we finished, that this was the best book we'd read on the subject.

[Breanna Zarate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost all kids love chocolate-- so what better to have the students read than a book about how chocolate is made? This is an informational text with plenty of images on how, where, and why chocolate is made. I think this would be a great book for young kids, just to view the images, and it would be great for upper grade students to read to actually learn about the chocolate making process.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey, people, if the rainforest die, there's NO MORE CHOCOLATE!

[Finny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mommy says: This was heavy on the history and light on the production and enjoyment of chocolate, which is not what Finny was expecting. He and I were a little bored.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the history of chocolate. The colorful pictures and simple text made it a quick, enjoyable read.