Try It!

November 23, 2020
Faced with a sea of predictable produce at L.A.’s Seventh Street market—“apples and bananas and potatoes and tomatoes”—Frieda Caplan wanted to try selling mushrooms. “Nobody eats those,” the existing salespeople—all men—said, but Caplan trusted her intuition, starting her own produce company in 1962 and getting “a funny feeling in her elbows when she tasted something new and special, something she was sure people would like to try.” Caplan made a significant mark, becoming a successful business owner in a field that did not welcome women. The mushrooms sold (“People started calling her the Mushroom Queen”), and so did the black radishes, blood oranges, jicama, kiwifruit, sugar snap peas, and more that Caplan championed as she led a quiet revolution in U.S. eating habits. In this picture book biography of an early food innovator, Rockliff (Jefferson Measures a Moose) takes note of the ways Caplan distinguished her offerings: clear labeling, customer education, and more. Potter (Olive & Pekoe: In Four Short Walks) brings out the vivid colors of tropical fruits, and her market scenes give the spreads a sense of abundance. There’s period detail, too, as produce is introduced through the decades, enjoyed by people sporting fedoras and, eventually, bell-bottoms. Ages 3–8. Agent (for Rockliff and Potter): Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.

December 1, 2020
Preschool-Grade 2 This picture-book biography of Frieda Rapoport Caplan tells how she introduced produce that was not previously available to American grocery stores in the 1950s. The usual fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes, oranges, apples, and tomatoes, sold well as they were tried and true staples. Caplan researched and eventually offered new items in her market that she thought the American public should try. She labeled her produce and even made recipes available, educating her customers and emboldening them to prepare the unusual items. Foods such as jicama, sugar snap peas, blood oranges, kiwi, and dragon fruit were made available to a clientele willing to try new foods. Scattered throughout the book are puns like ""Farmers dug for tips,"" "Cooks peppered her with questions,"" and alliterations (""piles of potatoes,"" "quantities of quince"") that add levity to the text. Illustrations in bright colors feature the produce and include people with various skin colors in the naive watercolors. This informative and engaging title may encourage children to try tasting unfamiliar fruits and veggies.

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December 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 3-This picture book biography profiles produce pioneer Frieda Caplan (1923-2020). Caplan, the daughter of Russian immigrants, was the first woman in the United States to own and operate a wholesale produce business. The narrative begins at the Seventh Street produce market in Los Angeles in the 1960s, where Caplan noticed the monotony in what restaurants, stores, and stands sold to consumers. Despite the skepticism of her colleagues, she introduced fresh mushrooms, earning her the moniker "the Mushroom Queen." Her gradual success with mushrooms led her to open her own market stall, where she sold other foods considered unpopular and exotic, like kiwis. Caplan didn't love everything she tried, but when she chose to back something she gave it her all. As her reputation grew, she began to advise farmers and restaurant chefs. She gave interviews to journalists forecasting produce trends and eventually hired her own daughters to help with the family business. Potter's illustrations are thoughtfully painted and showcase the subtle changes in clothing throughout the decades. However, they don't necessarily have the shelf appeal that will motivate a child to choose this book for an independent read. On most spreads, the date that Caplan introduced a new fruit or veggie to the market is listed underneath the drawing with the product name. The text simply relays the basic facts of Caplan's life without connecting the dots. The background information featured at the end of the narrative would have made for welcome additions to enliven the story. VERDICT A straightforward picture book biography that missed the opportunity to elevate the narrative. Not recommended.-Lauren Younger, Univ. of Dallas Lib.

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Go to a market today, and the range of foods is amazing. Thank produce pioneer Frieda Caplan for that. When she started working at the Seventh Street produce market in Los Angeles in 1956, the vendors (all men) sold bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples "as far as the eye could see." "Why not give something new a try?" thought Frieda. She began with mushrooms, and by 1962 when she opened her own produce market -- the first woman in the United States to do so -- she was introducing new foods: kiwifruit, jicama, Asian pears, dragon fruit, Buddha's hand, donut peaches, star fruit, red bananas, yellow tomatoes, and purple asparagus. In 1979 she was named "Produce Man of the Year," an honor she declined until it was renamed "Produce Marketer of the Year." Rockliff's wordplay is a perfect pairing with Potter's folksy depictions of Caplan's food-play, with alliteration ("mounds of mangosteen, heaps of jicama, and quantities of quince"), humor ("Everyone was all ears...Especially about the baby corn!"), and playful verbs ("Farmers dug for tips on what to grow...Cooks peppered her with questions"). Rockliff and Potter serve up a lively story of an independent woman of vision and the foods she shared with the world. Readers will enjoy the fruits of their collaboration. Further information on Caplan and a note on sources are appended.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 1, 2021
Go to a market today, and the range of foods is amazing. Thank produce pioneer Frieda Caplan for that. When she started working at the Seventh Street produce market in Los Angeles in 1956, the vendors (all men) sold bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples "as far as the eye could see." "Why not give something new a try?" thought Frieda. She began with mushrooms, and by 1962 when she opened her own produce market -- the first woman in the United States to do so -- she was introducing new foods: kiwifruit, jicama, Asian pears, dragon fruit, Buddha's hand, donut peaches, star fruit, red bananas, yellow tomatoes, and purple asparagus. In 1979 she was named "Produce Man of the Year," an honor she declined until it was renamed "Produce Marketer of the Year." Rockliff's wordplay is a perfect pairing with Potter's folksy depictions of Caplan's food-play, with alliteration ("mounds of mangosteen, heaps of jicama, and quantities of quince"), humor ("Everyone was all ears...Especially about the baby corn!"), and playful verbs ("Farmers dug for tips on what to grow...Cooks peppered her with questions"). Rockliff and Potter serve up a lively story of an independent woman of vision and the foods she shared with the world. Readers will enjoy the fruits of their collaboration. Further information on Caplan and a note on sources are appended. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2021
Go to a market today, and the range of foods is amazing. Thank produce pioneer Frieda Caplan for that. When she started working at the Seventh Street produce market in Los Angeles in 1956, the vendors (all men) sold bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples "as far as the eye could see." "Why not give something new a try?" thought Frieda. She began with mushrooms, and by 1962 when she opened her own produce market -- the first woman in the United States to do so -- she was introducing new foods: kiwifruit, jicama, Asian pears, dragon fruit, Buddha's hand, donut peaches, star fruit, red bananas, yellow tomatoes, and purple asparagus. In 1979 she was named "Produce Man of the Year," an honor she declined until it was renamed "Produce Marketer of the Year." Rockliff's wordplay is a perfect pairing with Potter's folksy depictions of Caplan's food-play, with alliteration ("mounds of mangosteen, heaps of jicama, and quantities of quince"), humor ("Everyone was all ears...Especially about the baby corn!"), and playful verbs ("Farmers dug for tips on what to grow...Cooks peppered her with questions"). Rockliff and Potter serve up a lively story of an independent woman of vision and the foods she shared with the world. Readers will enjoy the fruits of their collaboration. Further information on Caplan and a note on sources are appended. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2020
Baby corn? Seedless watermelons? Purple potatoes? Who'd eat that? Frieda Caplan was the plucky produce promoter who mainstreamed much of the world's delicacies and innovative hybrids into the American kitchen. Starting her own eponymous company--Frieda's--in 1962, she ensured that her reputation was made in what was then an all-male wholesale produce business. Almost nothing was too far-out for Frieda; after all, spaghetti squash was just one more recipe card in search of a convert. However, even Frieda was stumped with the Chinese gooseberry--but sales took off after she renamed it a kiwi. Anyone who bites into a crunchy jicama or a fiery habanero purchased from a supermarket can thank the adventurous taste buds of this pioneering greengrocer. Rockliff's snappy sentences and rollicking alliteration make this a fun read-aloud: "Farmers dug for tips on what to grow. Cooks peppered her with questions"; "mounds of mongosteen, heaps of jicama, and quantities of quince." Potter's signature flat palette gives way to bright purples, brilliant reds, and crisp greens. The retro illustrations follow Frieda from her entry into a marketplace filled with "boxes of bananas. Piles of potatoes. Truckloads of tomatoes" to a consumer wonderland filled with boxes of donut peaches and cherimoyas. Frieda, a Jewish Angeleno, presents White; people of color appear as both fellow wholesalers and customers. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) A delectable delight daring readers to embrace the 80,000 species of Earth's edible plants. (author's note; bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

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