How could it not be sweet when our book was The Candymakers by Wendy Mass? This entertaining middle grade book is full of imagination and intrigue.
In the town of Spring Haven, four children have been selected to compete in thenational candymaking contest of a lifetime. Who will make a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Yellow Lightning Chew?
Logan, the candymaker’s son, who can detect the color of chocolate by feel alone?
Miles, the boy allergic to rowboats and the color pink?
Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy as if it were a feather?
Philip, the suit-and-tie-wearing boy who’s always scribbling in a secret notebook?
This sweet, charming, and cleverly crafted story, told from each contestant’s perspective, is filled with mystery, friendship, and juicy revelations. {Amazon}
We had all kinds of ideas for activities related to this book, most of them involving experimenting on our own new candy creations. Unfortunately time, skill and equipment were all hurdles to the creation of a unique Roberts family candy. We did try our hand at taffy making, but we succeeded in making hard candy instead. (I refuse to attempt any further candy making until I get a new, quality candy thermometer! Obviously the thermometer was the problem, not the candy maker.) Fortunately, the kids like hard candy too!
Another candy activity was a candy quiz my daughter found online. We had to guess the candy from a picture of a cross section. For the record, I was actually good at that one!
The complex characters and story line gave us plenty to talk about.
- Which candy would you most like to try from the Life Is Sweet Candy Factory? Is ‘all’ an acceptable answer?
- What room would you most like to work in? With choices like tropical, taffy, caramel and chocolate that is a hard question! A room full of caramel… OK, I’m back.
- What undercover assignment is most appealing? (This is where the intrigue comes in!)
- What kind of new candy creation would you like to make?
- We unanimously agreed that we would all like to live in the candy factory like Logan!
The Candymakers makes a great read aloud book and appropriate for grades 3 and up. I’m glad I fit in that range. It held my attention and kept me guessing.
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