The Hole Story of the Doughnut

K-Gr 3—This surprising account of the invention of the doughnut introduces readers to master mariner Hanson Crockett Gregory from Rockport, ME. As a young ship's cook in 1847, Gregory prepared the standard breakfast of balls of fried sweet dough. The sailors called them "sinkers" because although the dough fried up crisp and sweet around the edges, "their raw centers, heavy with grease, made them drop like cannonballs in the stomach." Gregory had a better idea and shaped a new batch by cutting holes in the center of each sinker and then frying them in boiling lard. The doughnut was born. Although Hanson went on to become a ship's captain and was awarded a medal for heroism for his actions at sea, his legacy is his delicious creation. This book relates some of the many colorful legends that have surrounded the origins of this sweet treat over the years. The short, humorous text delivers facts that young children will appreciate, while keeping the interest of the more mature. Kirsch has admirably complemented the story with bright, cartoonlike illustrations that evoke the history and the humor of the tale. Clever "porthole," or "doughnut hole," borders frame each page. Whimsically, the artist has placed doughnuts throughout, from the endpapers, which include several varieties, to the back cover, which features an octopus holding a doughnut on each arm. VERDICT A lively offering for reading and sharing that will encourage the youngest of researchers to wonder and learn about other everyday items in their world.—Carole Phillips, Greenacres Elementary School, Scarsdale, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Playful cartoons and dramatic narration tell the true tale of a New England mariner turned doughnut inventor. Hanson Gregory, a cook's assistant aboard a schooner out of Maine in 1847, prepares the usual breakfast of fried cakes, called sinkers because "their raw centers, heavy with grease, made them drop like cannonballs in the stomach." In this aside (set within Gregory's larger biographical narrative), he removes the gooey centers one morning before frying the cakes, resulting in a welcome--and fully cooked--breakfast. In colorful scenes that evoke 1970s Schoolhouse Rock vignettes, Kirsch (Gingerbread for Liberty!) depict rows of wide-mouthed seafarers with entire doughnuts between their open jaws; later, sailors enter Gregory's mother's harbor-side doughnut shop stooped over and exit dancing jigs on the other side, "holey cakes" in hand. Mimicking Gregory's ring-cutting innovation, the book's memorable design takes large circular cuts out of Kirsch's vibrant watercolors, transplanting the circles to the facing pages while leaving behind an empty frame for Miller's (Substitute Groundhog) text. Ages 6-9. Author's agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis. (May)

Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

2017 ILA-CBC Children's Choice List

"Delicious!"
—Kirkus

"A lively offering for reading and sharing that will encourage the youngest of researchers to wonder and learn about other everyday items in their world."
—School Library Journal

"Playful cartoons and dramatic narration tell the true tale of a New England mariner turned doughnut inventor... Mimicking Gregory's ring-cutting innovation, the book's memorable design takes large circular cuts out of Kirsch's vibrant watercolors, transplanting the circles to the facing pages while leaving behind an empty frame for Miller's (Substitute Groundhog) text."
—Publishers Weekly