Pizza Pat

by Rita Golden Gelman

Pizza is fun to make. Pizza Pat stretches the floppy dough, puts on the gloppy tomatoes, adds the sloppy sausages, sprinkles on the cheese, and then pops it in the oven. But just before he cuts into his delicious pizza pie, he turns his back for one second--and the pizza disappears! A gang of hungry mice have taken Pat's irresistible creation away for themselves. Kids love pizza, and this cumulative Step 1 book, based on the poem "The House That Jack Built", will whet their appetites for both pizza and books!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Humor, Poetry, Fiction, 1st Grade

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Melynda Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best illustrator ever ... Will Terry. The book is fun for every family with a kid in the house ... we gave this book for Christmas gifts one year. It was a hit!

[Kitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves this book as much as he loves his pizza! We read this every night before bed.

[Cornbread Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tragic tale of Pat is a fairly entertaining read on the surface. However, there are several glaring issues that create cracks in the story. First, the antagonist appears seemingly out of nowhere, unestablished and unexplained, which left me wildly confused. Pat himself remains frustratingly opaque. He bought a pan, but is he a professional chef or just a mechanic who enjoys making pizzas? Either conclusion is valid, which hurts his motive as a character.

The first act gripped me immediately like a raccoon grabbing a bowl of wet spaghetti. After hours of reading, I arrived at the third act. The narrative crumbled quicker than termites eating a house, even with regular termite treatments. Repetition flows with respectable consistency, but the rhymes force the reader to ask questions that H.P. Lovecraft likely pondered… Why is Pat making a pizza? Is his mustache real? Why did he buy a pan? Why are there so many mice on the street, out in the open? How do they find Pat's pizza pan so quickly? Their motives remain frustratingly obscure, leaving me to desire a more established story, like Things that Go.

I would have marked this story as DNF if not for the wonderful illustrations by Will Terry. The raw emotion in every image helped establish depth to the story.

4 stars.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chef named Pat spends a great deal of time cooking a pizza. He puts a lot of detail and effort into making sure it is absolutely perfect. When he turns his back on it, for only a moment, it is stolen by a group of mischievous mice and Pat is left completely devastated.
This book is a personal favorite of mine, it is the first book I learned to read that is one of the major reasons that I gave it a 5 star rating. However, reading it again now that I am older, I realized that the illustrations depict Pats attention to detail and his emotions very well and the mice look like they are going to cause some trouble. The story is written in a repetitive, fun style that allows kids to grab on and follow along with the reading.

[Heatherfife · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Pat, the pizza tray that Pat bought, and how he went about making his pizza (and what ended up happening to said pizza)!

This is absolutely one of our family favorites! So much so, that I had to buy another copy as the OG was well-worn. The story is cute and keeps the attention of even the youngest listener. The illustrations are funny and capture the emotions of the characters quite well. It is VERY repetitive so beginning readers will have a lot of practice re-reading the same passages, which helps with retention and instills a sense of pride in the reader. And, if you read it using a strong NY accent, it’s downright hilarious!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have really enjoyed Pizza Pat. This has to be one of the nicer early readers we own. And that is saying something in view of the fact that I sometimes think level one books are hard to enjoy because of limited language. It has a sort of cumulative and repetitive format that is surprisingly enjoyable. The illustrations and characters are humorous. If you can locate a copy, I recommend snatching it up because I imagine most 20+ year old books are kind of hard to locate.

[Anthony Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a five star but i did not like the ending. My favorite food is pizza by far my whole life i will always want a slice and by god this made me hungry and wanting more.Great book over all that your kid will love the rhyming in this book it will have them singing along.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect read aloud for little ones all about who pizza is made and poor pat doesnt get a bite when some sneaky mice come along and run away with his pizza!

[Talea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Good repetition to help with word recognition. My daughter enjoyed it, and that's what counts.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute book. This is a good book for beginner readers. My 3 kids enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book to others.

[Zev1 A · Rating 1 out of 5]

what is this it is so easy?

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun early reader.

[Catherine]

First book I read out loud as a kindergartender to my class. Never forgot it.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

My twin sons LOVED this book and at 20 years old still remember the whole thing. I'm glad it's still available because I think my almost here nephew needs to have it.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids loved this simple story. It was great to talk about making the pizza and also the emotional end. They laughed so hard and I couldn't help but laugh with them.

[Hope Mullins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my son's favorite books. I read it over and over again.

[Peyton Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much that evey time we make pizza we read this

[Little Champs]

3122

[Ross Leikvoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the best book I’ve read all year or at least it was the most fun time I’ve had reading a book!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other than the stereotypical pizza maker, this book is a hoot!

[Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I ever read by myself. I like when Pat put the pizza in the oven 900 degrees which melted the cheese/ all squishy and squashy that laid the sausage all stretchy and floppy! I liked the rhyming. I liked the end when the mice were sleeping and some were fat from eating Pat's pizza.

[Ramya Sukardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aku suka sama bukunya!
ceritanya seorang koki yang masak pizza,namanya Pat.
Tapi,yang bikin aku suka,terakhir ada tikus-tikus nakal
yang memakan pizza-nya yang sudah matang.Kokinya nangis!
Lucu,bgt!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this book at our house, especially the last line that I made up years ago that we say every time ..."But the mice are fat." Also, I love that C "took a bite out of this book" when she was a baby. She definitely chewed on a few books in her day! :)

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read. My daughter likes it when I speed up the words, since it is repetitive.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This made both my kids cry

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading level 1.4

Taylor read this book over and over when he was 3, Matthew reads it now. I can't help but smile every time he pulls it from the shelves.

[Robin]

I loved this book. So did all my students. The teachers I lent it to said the same.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

20 months - you love this book, simple, rhyming and of course if it's about cooking it's got to be a winner!! (House that Jack built-esque)

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR 1.4

[Brianna Dietz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for read alouds. It is a pretty easy book, so it would be best for young students.