Everyone loves chocolate, right? But how many people actually know where chocolate comes from? How it’s made? Or that monkeys do their part to help this delicious sweet exist?
This delectable dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. But those trees couldn’t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots—they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as "Cocoa flowers can’t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots," explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels.
Back matter includes information about cocoa farming and rain forest preservation, as well as an author’s note.
Chocolate chip cookies.Chocolate ice cream.Moist, fudgy brownies.What makes all these desserts so delicious?Chocolate, of course.But you can’t make chocolate without . . .
. . . cocoa beans.Cocoa beans are the seeds of the cocoa tree. Cocoa treesgrow naturally in the tropical rain forests of Central andSouth America. But today farmers grow them in othertropical areas, too.To make chocolate, workers spread cocoa beans withrakes and dry them in the sun. Then they roast them ina giant oven. Later, machines smash the beans into athick paste and squeeze out the liquid to make cocoapowder. It gets mixed with a variety of ingredients tomake different kinds of chocolate.
Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than one hundred fifty science books for children. She holds degrees in biology and science journalism. Recent books include No Monkeys, No Chocolate; Under the Snow Tree (Peachtree, 2009); and the A Place for series (Peachtree). She lives in Acton, Massachusetts.
View titles by Melissa Stewart
Nicole Wong was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, with both parents in the arts, so she never thought of becoming anything except an illustrator. She graduated from RISD with a BFA in illustration and is now happily a full-time illustrator of magazines, children’s educational and trade books. She still lives in Fall River with her husband, daughter, sleepy kitty, and two big pups.
View titles by Nicole Wong
Everyone loves chocolate, right? But how many people actually know where chocolate comes from? How it’s made? Or that monkeys do their part to help this delicious sweet exist?
This delectable dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. But those trees couldn’t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots—they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as "Cocoa flowers can’t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots," explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels.
Back matter includes information about cocoa farming and rain forest preservation, as well as an author’s note.
Excerpt
Chocolate chip cookies.Chocolate ice cream.Moist, fudgy brownies.What makes all these desserts so delicious?Chocolate, of course.But you can’t make chocolate without . . .
. . . cocoa beans.Cocoa beans are the seeds of the cocoa tree. Cocoa treesgrow naturally in the tropical rain forests of Central andSouth America. But today farmers grow them in othertropical areas, too.To make chocolate, workers spread cocoa beans withrakes and dry them in the sun. Then they roast them ina giant oven. Later, machines smash the beans into athick paste and squeeze out the liquid to make cocoapowder. It gets mixed with a variety of ingredients tomake different kinds of chocolate.
Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than one hundred fifty science books for children. She holds degrees in biology and science journalism. Recent books include No Monkeys, No Chocolate; Under the Snow Tree (Peachtree, 2009); and the A Place for series (Peachtree). She lives in Acton, Massachusetts.
View titles by Melissa Stewart
Nicole Wong was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, with both parents in the arts, so she never thought of becoming anything except an illustrator. She graduated from RISD with a BFA in illustration and is now happily a full-time illustrator of magazines, children’s educational and trade books. She still lives in Fall River with her husband, daughter, sleepy kitty, and two big pups.
View titles by Nicole Wong
