Overview

Nonfiction for kids interested in science, biography, and early entrepreneurs, this work explores the life story of Clarence Birdseye, the man who revolutionized the frozen food industry and changed the way people eat all over the world. Adapted from Mark Kurlansky’s adult work Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man.   Adventurer and inventor Clarence Birdseye had a fascination with food preservation that led him to develop and patent the Birdseye freezing process and start the company that still bears his name today. His limitless curiosity spurred his other inventions, including the electric sunlamp, an improved incandescent lightbulb, and a harpoon gun to tag finback whales. This true story of an early inventor/entrepreneur is not only thrilling but also explains the science and early technology behind food preservation. Simultaneously available in a hardcover and trade paperback edition. Each edition includes an 8-page black-and-white photo insert.

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9780385372442

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Reviews

Praise for Birdseye In the shadow of America's great inventors--Edison, Ford and Bell, to name a few--stands an unheralded giant: Clarence Birdseye, the father of the modern fresh frozen pea. Wander any supermarket and you'll find Birdseye's legacy.... [Kurlansky's] book is a delight--and a quiz bowl team's treasure-trove. Fabulous factoids abound. --Abigail Meisel, New York Times Book Review The first book-length biography of Clarence Birdseye.... [An] intriguing book that...coaxes readers to re-examine everyday miracles like frozen food, and to imagine where places with no indigenous produce would be without them. --Janet Maslin, New York Times There's a particular pleasure in being reminded that the most ordinary things can still be full of magic. Frogs may turn into princes. Lumps of dirt can hide sparkling gems. And having just read Mark Kurlansky's new biography of Clarence Birdseye, I now see the humble fish fillet in a whole new light. For as Kurlansky tells it, when Clarence Birdseye figured out how to pack and freeze haddock...he essentially changed the way we produce, preserve and distribute food forever. --NPR's The Salt Piecing together the first book-length biography of Birdseye was not easy. It's not just the episodic quality of Birdseye's life but the sparse and spotty nature of the surviving information about him. And there are many myths that surround his life, some perpetuated by the man himself.... [Yet] Kurlansky has pieced together a lively and readable biography about one of America's most unusual innovators. --Andrew F. Smith, Newsday Best known for his deliciously knowledgeable food histories ( Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster ), Kurlansky['s]...wide-ranging curiosity matches his subject's, and his narrative of Birdseye's life displays great feeling for a fellow adventurer.... [R]eaders will emerge from this breezy book with a fondness for its engagingly eccentric protago

Author Information

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Ready for a Brand New Beat: How “Dancing in the Street” Became the Anthem for a Changing America; The Food of a Younger Land; Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; 1968: The Year That Rocked the World; and The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, among other books. He lives in New York City.

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