Pizza!

June 1, 2022
A tasty overview of a popular dish. In this history of the finger or knife-and-fork food, a bespectacled rat takes readers back in time to ancient Greece and Persia (where some say the food may have originated) and then forward to 19th-century Naples and a chef named Raffaele Esposito, who "was famous for making the best pizza in Naples." Pizzoli notes that King Umberto and Queen Margherita heard about the pizza on a visit to Naples and that, according to lore, the queen requested it--an image of Esposito riding a horse with pizza boxes tied to it offers a whimsical depiction of what Pizzoli dubs "the first pizza delivery." Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the return of U.S. soldiers from Italy after World War II contributed to the widespread demand for the pies. Not content with the typical recipes, chefs all over the world have added toppings ranging from peas (Brazil) to fish (Russia) to coconuts (Costa Rica) to mayo jaga (Japan). The simple recipe for toaster oven-style minipizzas at the end of the book is child-friendly, starting with English muffins and adding mozzarella and tomatoes. Flavoring the concise yet fun narrative is the deliciously inspired palette dominated by red, green, and white that evokes both the Italian flag and pizza itself. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Budding cooks, dedicated eaters, and culinary historians will relish the presentation. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

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June 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 2 Geisel Award winner Pizzoli serves up fun in this high-interest helping for early readers, with a pizza rat (perhaps a nod to the now infamous video of a New York City pizza-loving rat) acting as guide. Simple text introduces basic pizza terms before looking at the origins of this popular food (Americans eat 350 slices every second!). The focus is on pizza's Italian roots, including the suspicious arrival of the tomato in Europe, the legend of the Margherita pizza, and the spread of pizza to the U.S. due to Italian immigrants and demand from WWII soldiers returning from service in Italy. The rat also presents pizza varieties across the country and around the world. Topping it all off are Pizzoli's lively digital illustrations featuring round shapes and patterns and rendered in the colors of both the Italian flag and the Margherita pizza: green, white, and red. His fans will enjoy a concluding scene with look-alike characters from previous books partaking in a pizza feast. Finally, the rat dishes up a mini pizza recipe to young foodies.

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October 31, 2022
With a bespectacled pizza rat as a guide and stylized cartooning punctuated in “four spot colors: sweet-tomato red, fresh-basil green, greasy-cheese yellow, and charred-crust black,” this breezy, reportorial picture book proffers an origin story behind pizza’s perennial popularity. The pivotal figure is the exuberantly mustachioed Raffaele Esposito, a 19th-century Neapolitan chef who created what is now recognized as pizza, and turned Italy’s Queen Margherita into a superfan. Readers also learn how the dish embodies bigger stories of immigration and global events (“Between 1880 and 1924, four million Italians moved to the United States. Aren’t you glad they did?”). Celebrating pizza as both common ground (people of varying abilities, ages, and skin tones enjoy slices around a large table) and a delicious emblem of individuality (pages survey pies including Detroit’s square version and Brazil’s green pea–topped pizzas), Pizzoli’s enthusiasm proves as bubbly as piping-hot mozzarella. Ages 4–8.