Pizza! 

A Slice of History

Genre:

    The picture book Pizza! A Slice of History by Greg Pizzoli is on the Texas 2x2 reading list for 2023. This list of 20 books is selected by the Texas Library Association.

Target Age Group:

    The target age group is from age 2 to grade 2.

Summary:

    Pizza! A Slice of History is a clever and humorous picture book about the history and love of pizza. The young reader is led on this global journey by a New York City rat with an animated disposition. This informational book is a delightful, colorful romp and one cannot wait to see what happens on the next page in this very entertaining book.

Justification:

    I felt a personal connection to this book because my husband's family has owned an Italian pizzeria for almost 70 years. It is well known in my area for its pizza. The title seemed to leap off the page when I was perusing the list of the Texas 2x2 children's books. 

Evaluation:

    For this review, I will be evaluating the mood, illustrations, and theme. The mood is set for this delightful book from the beginning. The front cover of Greg Pizzoli's lighthearted and hilarious story let's the young reader know that there is an exciting journey involved and that the protagonist is a rat. The smile on the rat's face greets the reader and throughout the book, the questions asked of the reader and the charm of the illustrations create an atmosphere of hilarity while presenting interesting historical facts about pizza at the same time. 

    The illustrations of this informational book are playful and appealing to the reader. The color palette used reminds the reader of a pizza. The use of certain vibrant colors (red and green) evoke an image of the Italian flag which is represented on a few pages into the story. Object dominance, a facet of composition, takes place when the reader's eye is drawn to very large slices of pizza in a few of the illustrations. Mr. Pizzoli, with his art, certainly knows how to enchant his audience.

    The central idea of this picture book, the theme, is to convey to the young reader the history of pizza by using humor as its mainstay. It also presents a global approach that informs the reader of the variety of toppings different countries utilize when making their individual pizzas. In the final pages of Pizza! A Slice of History, a simple recipe for a young person is included for a make-it-yourself pizza (with adult supervision, of course) and leaves a smile and a desire to immediately eat a slice of pizza!

Citation:

Pizzoli, G. (2002). Pizza! A Slice of History (G. Pizzoli, Illus.). Viking Books.