Picture Book Exploration: Frank Zamboni

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Today I feel a great affinity with Frank Zamboni, the inventor of the ice smoothing machine that bears his name. As I sit here in January, in Colorado, it is 60 degrees… Not quite the winter weather that prompts one to think of ice skating… But Zamboni built his ice machine in the heat of California, so I think we shall get along. The more I read biographies of inventors, the more impressed I am by how these people can solve almost any problem they encounter with grit and determination. Frank Zamboni was no exception.

Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni’s Ice Machine, by Monica Kulling, illustrated by Renné Benoit

This wonderful illustrated biography of inventor Frank Zamboni is part of a lovely collection of 9 inventor biographies. We have enjoyed each of them. Monica Kulling, the author of all of them, has done a wonderful job at bringing to life the quest of Frank Zamboni for an efficient and quick way to smooth ice. Monica Kulling writes in a lively style bringing the qualities and adventures of the inventor to the forefront.
Renné Benoit’s illustrations are delightful! I cannot imagine the research she must have had to do to be able to illustrate such fantastic Zamboni machines. Her watercolor and colored pencil illustrations take us right onto the ice with Frank Zamboni!

Frank Zamboni

The son of Italian immigrants Frank Zamboni was born in Utah and moved to Idaho before making his way to California. With the progress of electrical refrigeration he saw the end of his ice block business looming on the horizon. Instead of worrying he pivoted and recycled his knowledge of ice and ice making to bring fun and delight to all. He built an ice skating rink, in California of all places! Iceland Skating Rink quickly became a favorite destination to ice skating fans in Paramount, CA. But one thing was making the experience a little harrowing: the 90 minutes it took to refinish the ice every few hours… Frank Zamboni decided to change that, and by doing so changed the world of ice skating.

The Zamboni ice machine

Why is the Zamboni machine an important invention? Very simply because it allows for time efficiency, safety and greater enjoyment. An ice rink that is being used regularly needs to be resurfaced about once an hour, if it is a quick 15 minutes break it’s no big deal but back in Frank Zamboni’s days it took up to an hour and a half to resurface the rink! How frustrating it must have been to skate for an hour, then wait an hour and a half to be able to skate some more! A smooth ice surface also helps prevent falls and injuries. If the ice surface is all pitted by other skaters, turns, dives and stops it makes the ice a lot less enjoyable.It’s fun to skate on smooth ice, but constantly tripping on holes, not so much.

Engineering

It took Frank Zamboni nine years to perfect his idea and make it work smoothly (pun intended). The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine is a lot more complex than it looks. Take a peek here. The Zamboni website has an amazing poster of the evolution of the ice machine and some fun trading cards containing all the important facts for each machine. My brain cannot even wrap itself around how Frank Zamboni was able to create such an intricate and efficient machine with no help or real starting point. From guys pushing brooms and shovels on the ice to the ice surfacing machine, what a leap in imagination and engineering! It is rather amazing.

Art

My favorite page of the Zamboni company website is the Zamboni vintage ads page! Spend some time looking at these vintage ads then create your own Zamboni ad. Don’t forget to mention why it’s the best! What I love about encouraging children (and myself) to create ads is the multi faceted exercise. When creating an ad you have to acquire knowledge about the product, art is involved, and it is a wonderful exercise in writing. You have to be concise, use few but impactful words to encourage someone to buy the product. The medium used for the ad can be very varied from pencil and paper to photograph manipulation. It can require some serious skills and help us explore some art medium we are not familiar with. This is not just an art project, it is a learning opportunity. It enables us to develop so many different skills in just one project. My favorite!

Field trip!

Find a skating rink near you and go ice skating! January is the perfect month for that. I love it when a picture book triggers a field trip. Maybe you have never been ice skating or you are a regular at your local rink. It doesn’t matter, take some time to go ice skating with your family. This is  the stuff memories are made of and truly quite the experience! Many places have indoor rinks but during the winter months many outdoor skating rinks pop up throughout the country. I would recommend an outdoor rink for a greater experience. Pack a thermos of hot cocoa and some snacks, it will be worth your time!

Recipe

It is very silly to have this in January, but I believe this story calls for a serving of Shave Ice! Did you know that per resurfacing a Zamboni machine could produce 3661 snow cones! How incredible is that? 
Thank you Frank Zamboni for the way you changed the world! See you all on the ice!
Love,
Mattie