What to Know
- The "Rad Readers" menu is available through July 1, both in local scoop shops and via nationwide shipping
- The artisanal ice cream maker partnered with Scholastic on the creamy collaboration, which highlights five fantastic kid-focused books or series
- A frightful flavor devoted to "Goosebumps" is on the luscious line-up
Summer reading lists, those photocopied, fill-in-the-blank sheets of paper that encourage kids, and former kids, to take on several great books over the warmer weeks of the year, are a staple of refrigerator doors come June.
The reason?
We need to put our lists somewhere we can see them, so we can fill them every week, or even every day, all to keep track of what books we've read.
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If these lists remind you of your book-beautiful childhood summers, and you've been wanting to reconnect with some of that page-turning playfulness that this time of year brings, look to Salt & Straw.
For the artisanal ice cream company has partnered with Scholastic on a line-up of limited-time flavors that spotlight some of the page-turning tomes that please tots best.
The name of the series? The "Rad Readers" ice creams, which are supplying dessert-craving bibliophiles "Scoops of Stories" all June long.
The quintet of colorful ice creams debuted just ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. You can find them at your local Salt & Straw scoop shop through July 1, 2021 or through the company's order page (yep, nationwide shipping is possible).
On the tales-are-tasty roster, which has been deliciously dubbed the "Rad Readers" series?
"Goosebumps: Monster Blood Is Back!" is an eye-catching choice. But what's in this eerie ice cream?
"Streaks of citrus-y, shiny green goo suspend hunks of deep red strawberry bark," promises the Salt & Straw team. "If you hear strange gurgling noises coming from your pint... run for your life!"
"Geronimo Stilton" by Elisabetta Dami, "Amulet" by Kazu Kibuishi, "Smile" by Raina Telgemeier, and "Twins" by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright all have their own awesome ice cream flavors on the creative and creamy line-up.
The "Twins" ice cream is double the ice cream enjoyment: It includes "two decidedly unique flavors," which include "whips of housemade cinnamon-laced cream cheese" and a "fragrant pear ice cream."
Here's a cheerful challenge for your young reader: Enjoying a scoop of something amazing while reading the very book that inspired the goodie in your kid's hand.
"Throughout the pandemic, education in America has completely shifted," shared Tyler Malek, Head Ice Cream Maker & Co-Founder of Salt & Straw.
"One thing we feel that hasn’t changed is the transportive nature of reading a book, no matter where you are it brings excitement and wonder. At Salt & Straw, we have an infatuation with that word 'wonder,' it has a magnetic draw that sucks you in and makes our customers want to learn more, dig deeper, taste greater when eating our ice cream."
"Our Rad Readers menu has given us the opportunity to work with some of the greatest children’s book authors in the world, and together, we channeled every whimsical, thoughtful, and taste-provoking page into five ice creams. Our hope is to inspire kids to do the same."
Find these mind-growing, imagination-stoking sweets at Salt & Straw through July 1.