Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog

by Adrienne Sylver, Elwood H. Smith (Illustrator)

If we are what we eat, Americans are hot dogs. We ate them on the way to the moon and served them to the king of England. We name a Hot Dog Eating Champ! Garnished with hilarious illustrations and amazing "foodie" facts, this kid-friendly, globe-spanning history of our favorite fast-food meal offers unique insight into America's multicultural heritage. From a hobo's franks-and-beans to astronaut food, there's more to the wiener--and what's for dinner--than you think.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Food, Childrens, History, Historical, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2010

About the author

Adrienne Sylver grew up in Ohio and like many Buckeyes who dislike shoveling snow, piling on fifteen layers of clothing, and blowing their nose for six months of the year, she escaped after college to the sunshine of Florida. Today, she lives in Miami with her husband, Mike, their two children. She has a bachelor’s degree from Ashland College (now known as Ashland University) and a master’s degree in magazine journalism from Ohio University. She’s worked as a newspaper reporter, freelance writer, and corporate public relations writer.

My first book, Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog (Dutton) comes out on May 13. It's a fun-filled look at how the hot dog came to America and became one of our favorite foods.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun filled book that will make you smile! The history of the hot dog is so intertwined with the history of the US; and the type and variety that have become regional favorites speaks so much to how we take food and modify it to our tastes. This book will be of interest to both children and adults - read it before summer - and then try different hot dogs!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot Diggity Dog is book about the history of the hot dog that contains many interesting facts about this food. For example, did you know people eat more hot dogs in July than in any other month? Or that ancient Romans ate while lying on couches since they believed it was bad manners to sit up while eating? The Romans also used ground up mustard seeds to treat war wounds.

Also, a man from San Jose, California won $20,000 in a hot dog eating contest by eating 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Read this book to find out more about the history of the hot dog and to find out what people in other countries put on their hot dogs besides ketchup and mustard.

[Christina Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got a chance to read this wonderfully illustrated picture book in its early form because I'm friends with Adrienne (the writer) and I know it's going to make a great summertime book!

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining history of the hot dog. Lots of neat facts are embedded along the sides of the pages. Fun cartoon type illustrations highlight the text. Enjoyable book.

[Cathy Dougherty` · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good history of the hot dog. It has some great and interesting facts that the kids will really enjoy.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

TX Bluebonnet Nominee. Loved this book. Very informative. The kids I read it to loved it as well.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

K picked this book up from his school library.

I thought this was a very interesting read. I honestly have not thought about where Hot Dogs were originally from or anything. But I learned a lot within this book. And I know K did as well. K enjoyed learning about the eating contest and has decided he wants to set a new world record with eating hot dogs.
This is a fun book to read with the younger and older kiddos if they care about the history of hot dogs. You will probably learn a lot that you may not have knew before.

[Alison Rankn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book about hot dogs. It entertaining to read and full of fun, factual information that most people would not know about hot dogs. I really liked how the author made the book engaging and interesting by including a lot of historical information about the hot dog over the years. The illustrations fit perfectly with the text and they were unique and fun. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves hot dogs or just food in general. This would be a good book for students to use to learn about certain foods.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here I go with my picture books for older kids, but I love them! This is a non-fiction book that will naturally attract kids and help introduce middle-graders to research by grabbing their attention with a fun topic. It has fun illustrations and an assortment of text formats. It isn't off-putting with too much imformation, so I would love to use it as an introductory tool with note-taking skills.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

HCPL Juv Nonfiction 641.36 Syl

If we are what we eat, Americans are hot dogs. We ate them on the way to the moon and served them to the king of England. this book offers unique insight into America's multicultural heritage. From a hobo's franks-and-beans to astronaut food, there's more to the wiener and what's for dinner than you think.

Subject: Frankfurters -- History -- Juvenile literature.
Cooking (Frankfurters) -- Juvenile literature.
Food -- History -- Juvenile literature.

[Dodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I try to eat healthy, hot dogs are a major weakness of mine so this title arrived like a love letter! Full of wonderful and interesting facts and clear narrative, foodies of every stripe will enjoy browsing the pages, taking in Elwood Smith's absolutely hysterical illustrations - just look at the cover! A couple of recipes and a short resource list is included.

[Shelly♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this book with my kiddos. The story of how the hot dog came to be - and how it has evolved to become part of our culture. Filled with lots of fun facts about hot dog and eating. Even discusses the "unhealthy" aspect of hot dogs - ie you don't want to eat hot dogs every day.

We all enjoyed this and it made us want to go out for a dog!

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you wanted to know about the hot dog and were afraid to ask! Loved the crazy illustrations, the consistent layout of information added to easy reading of this book by individuals or to a group as a read aloud. I've got some ideas for a SMART Board lesson to go with this one for Bluebonnet season in the fall when school starts up again.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was one of the NFPB nominated for Cybils awards this past year. I wanted to review it finally, so thought I would reread again. Just as delightful the 2nd time.

Great mentor for writing.

Strategies: good cause/effect

also sequencing through time

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. I see this as being a great spark for inquiry activities! There seem to be a lot of facts in this book, but the bibliography seemed a little... sparse. I would definitely challenge my students to investigate the validity of a lot of this book. You know, for fun.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my kind of nonfiction. The text tells about the history and the side bars give hot dog trivia.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daxon and I really enjoyed this one. Full of fun facts, great illustrations and even a couple of recipes. Very fun book.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know where and when the hot dog began? I thought I did, but the origins go back hundreds of years in the informational book about the history of the hot dog!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hungry.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very fun non-fiction book about hot dogs. Where did hot dogs come from? Do other countries have hot dog-like items? The illustrations are fun and the the side bars on the pages allow you to learn more or save for the next read. I particularly enjoyed the list that showed how hot dogs are served in various parts of the US. And, at the end of the book the author includes two recipes.
I really enjoyed the format. This would be a very interesting way to have kids mimic the book's style in a short research project.

[Caitlyn Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This informative book goes teaches the reader about the history of the hot dog. It covers how the hot dog came to be such a popular food in America, what they are called in different countries, hot dog facts, and much more. This is a fun yet informative read for younger children.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack said he liked it at first, but it got pretty wordy after a while. But he DID want a hot dog afterward, so there's that.

[Breanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very funny and informative! I work in the children's department of a library and I couldn't resist picking this one up.

[Valerie Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, interesting nonfiction work about one of America's beloved foods-the hot dog.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

KSKS

[Tam Newell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adding to my inventions books. Picture book about the history of the hot dog with lots of sidebars with fact tidbits.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE hot dogs, literally I think they may be my favorite food so when I saw this children's book I had to read it! But now I'm hungry after reading about all the delicious kinds of hot dogs! Chicago dogs, Kansas city dogs, New York city dogs, Coney Island dogs, Southern slaw dogs, corn dogs (my FAV!), Tex-Mex dogs, pigs in a blanket (YUMMM!!!)
Did you know at Hillbilly Dogs in Lesage, West Virginia hot dogs are topped with ketchup, cheese and scrambled eggs! And at Pink's in Los Angeles you can get a bacon burrito dog.
Really cute book for kids on the history of the hot dog, tells you how to say hot dog in other languages, even has a couple of recipes in the back and websites on hot dogs. OMG, one of the websites, hot-dog.org has like a billion hot dog recipes, this is AWESOME....

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making an excellent contribution to genre of children's picture book nonfiction, Hot Diggity Dog gives a delightful lite overview of the hot dog, an all-American classic food. Using zany illustrations and succinct text, it traces the hot dog's history, beginning with the murky origins of sausage in the ancient world and its rising popularity in the Roman Empire and ending with the hot dog's emergence in the United States in 1860's and its place in 20th Century culinary history.
The sidebars provide additional fun facts although I wouldn't attempt ordering a hot dog in another country using the list of translations without first consulting a native speaker. Je voudrais un chien chaud? Somehow I think not.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the fun facts and illustrations were whimsical, there were several things I missed in this picture book history of hot dogs. One in particular was a cartoon diagram of how a hot dog is made; young readers love a step-by-step explanation of things like that, especially when they involve machinery. I found the haphazard page layout distracting and the writing sometimes hard to follow, especially in the tiny-print fact boxes.

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audience: open

Story: A pictorial fact book linked with historical events about the humble hot dog in the American culture from its beginning as a Greek sausage (Odyssey by Homer) through Europe to food cart in 19th century New York City.

Writing: Cleverly written and colorfully illustrated in cartoon fashion. Side bars list facts/factoids. Two recipes are included at the end.

FYI: July is National Hot Dog Month.