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Pizza in Pienza
The essential history of pizza, told by a charming Italian girl who lives in Pienza and whose favorite food is . . . well, you can guess it―pizza. Life in Pienza is pretty old-fashioned, and our young narrator knows everyone on the street and at the market by name. Her grandmother, of course, makes pizza by hand and teaches her how to make it too. While children will love the vibrant illustrations and simple story, adults will be riveted by the history and challenged by the bilingual text―for what good is a history of pizza in English only? Read the Italian out loud― chiudo gli occhi e respiro il suo caldo profumo e il suo sapore ―to prepare yourself for homemade pizza of your own (recipe included).
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 31, 2013
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 21, 2013
I love the mix of modernity and antiquity in this bilingual (English/Italian) picture book about pizza. The paintings are full of life and playfulness; the woman on her red moped and the young Italian teens in the streets of Pienza, or the humorously modified Greek urn with its hero sampling a piece of pizza and the Mona Lisa smiling her lazy smile while biting into a slice! I want to hear it aloud in Italian for full effect.
January 27, 2014
gr2-4/5
Really lovely book that gives a glimpse of life in Italy through concrete details and little tidbits of history. The art is thickly drawn, much like the thickness of toppings for their pizza. Nice author notes in the back. Very original and useful for introducing a different culture in a simple, yet accurate way. Flavor.
Really lovely book that gives a glimpse of life in Italy through concrete details and little tidbits of history. The art is thickly drawn, much like the thickness of toppings for their pizza. Nice author notes in the back. Very original and useful for introducing a different culture in a simple, yet accurate way. Flavor.
May 8, 2018
What do children and adults love in equal measure? Food! And what food inspires rapture in the hearts of children and adults alike? Pizza! Have your children ever asked where pizza comes from? Who invented the Pizza Margherita? How did anyone think of combining such scrumptious ingredients as mozzarella, tangy tomato sauce, and fresh-baked bread? Thanks to Pizza in Pienza, you and your young charges will have all the answers, in English and Italian, including a recipe for homemade pizza. Here is the essential history of pizza, told by a charming Italian girl who lives in Pienza and whose favorite food is . . . well, you can guess it ¿ pizza. Life in Pienza is pretty old-fashioned, and our young heroine knows everyone on the street and at the market by name. She comes home from school at midday to eat meals with her family, but in between her snack of choice is pizza, and her favorite place is Giovanni's, where Giovanni cooks pizza the old-fashioned way ¿ in a hot brick oven heated by a wood fire. Her grandmother, of course, makes it by hand and teaches her how to make it too. Her love of pizza even leads her to the library, where our heroine learns all she can about this ancient and ever-popular food, and so do we. Susan Fillion, author and illustrator of Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America, has shifted her attention from France to Italy in this wonderful book for younger readers. While children will love the vibrant illustrations and simple story of this girl and her great love, adults will be riveted by the history and challenged by the bilingual text ¿ for what good is a history of pizza in English only?
Susan Fillion is an artist and museum educator in Baltimore. After majoring in studio art and French at Middlebury College, she spent a year in Italy, learning Italian and studying art history. Pienza, a somewhat off-the-beaten-track town in Tuscany, became a favorite spot, eventually inspiring this bilingual tale of life and pizza in an Italian village.
Subject: Pizza -- Juvenile fiction.
Geographic Term:
Pienza (Italy) -- Juvenile fiction.
Susan Fillion is an artist and museum educator in Baltimore. After majoring in studio art and French at Middlebury College, she spent a year in Italy, learning Italian and studying art history. Pienza, a somewhat off-the-beaten-track town in Tuscany, became a favorite spot, eventually inspiring this bilingual tale of life and pizza in an Italian village.
Subject: Pizza -- Juvenile fiction.
Geographic Term:
Pienza (Italy) -- Juvenile fiction.
April 18, 2023
The young girl heroine is in love with pizza, like many of the rest of us! Including Mr. Parker, because that is exactly why he picked this book out.
Beautiful, illustrations, including a very funny one of the Mona Lisa, holding a pizza and queen Margarita being presented with her first pizza of her name.
As a bonus, each of the pages has the Italian translation written underneath the English text and there is plenty of pizza history. Abundanza!
Beautiful, illustrations, including a very funny one of the Mona Lisa, holding a pizza and queen Margarita being presented with her first pizza of her name.
As a bonus, each of the pages has the Italian translation written underneath the English text and there is plenty of pizza history. Abundanza!
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March 10, 2021BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 18, 2014
This book is not only about the joy of pizza and the history of pizza, but is bilingual in both English and Italian, something you don’t see often. [This feature will help you memorize appropriate things to say when you travel to Italy to experience the real thing!]
The story is told by a little girl in Pienza, “a small town in Italy where Pope Pius II was born.” The author (who is also the illustrator) takes you through the town via bright, folk-style acrylics under which are simple sentences in English, then Italian. Although the Italian is not shown phonetically, there is a very good guide to pronunciation at the end of the book.
After telling you about her town and about the customs and habits of the people (“Here in Italy, we eat our main meal at midday”), she starts to explain the history of pizza.
Some of the pictures are humorous, such as the one showing Mona Lisa with a slice of pizza. But all of the illustrations are so rich in color and happy in tone, it’s hard to choose a favorite.
The author doesn’t just keep the action in Italy. She informs us that “The first pizzeria in the United States opened in New York City in 1905.” She notes that “pizza really became popular after the Second World War. Soldiers returning from Italy talked about it when they got home.”
I could go on recapitulating every page for you, but now I can hold back no longer and must go make pizza. This joyous book will inspire you and your children to do the same! Helpfully, the author even includes a recipe at the back of the book, along with some more in depth notes about the history of pizza.
Evaluation: This charming book filled with delightful pictures and fascinating information will have you watering at the mouth.
The story is told by a little girl in Pienza, “a small town in Italy where Pope Pius II was born.” The author (who is also the illustrator) takes you through the town via bright, folk-style acrylics under which are simple sentences in English, then Italian. Although the Italian is not shown phonetically, there is a very good guide to pronunciation at the end of the book.
After telling you about her town and about the customs and habits of the people (“Here in Italy, we eat our main meal at midday”), she starts to explain the history of pizza.
Some of the pictures are humorous, such as the one showing Mona Lisa with a slice of pizza. But all of the illustrations are so rich in color and happy in tone, it’s hard to choose a favorite.
The author doesn’t just keep the action in Italy. She informs us that “The first pizzeria in the United States opened in New York City in 1905.” She notes that “pizza really became popular after the Second World War. Soldiers returning from Italy talked about it when they got home.”
I could go on recapitulating every page for you, but now I can hold back no longer and must go make pizza. This joyous book will inspire you and your children to do the same! Helpfully, the author even includes a recipe at the back of the book, along with some more in depth notes about the history of pizza.
Evaluation: This charming book filled with delightful pictures and fascinating information will have you watering at the mouth.
June 3, 2015
The history of pizza has been told before but never quite like this. Susan Fillion's Pizza in Pienza is a picture book, written in English and Italian, with charming illustrations rendered in the warm tones of Tuscany.
—The Boston Globe
The history of pizza charmingly unfolds in a bilingual story with handsome paintings that also celebrate the dish's county of origin...[the narrator's] whirlwind tour of Italian culture and history, filtered through a veil of mozzarella, is lively and sweet.
—Publisher's Weekly
[Fillion's] ingenuous voice is matched by equally enthusiastic, folk-style artwork, which looks to be made with oil pastels and is dominated by warm, Tuscan colors...Both tasty and just filling enough, just like a slice of pizza margherita.
—Kirkus Reviews
Where better to celebrate food than in Italy, home of perhaps the most globally popular food of all, pizza?...Fillion includes amusing touches in her handsome paintings...Given how much Americans like pizza, this book should find many interested readers.
—The New York Times
—The Boston Globe
The history of pizza charmingly unfolds in a bilingual story with handsome paintings that also celebrate the dish's county of origin...[the narrator's] whirlwind tour of Italian culture and history, filtered through a veil of mozzarella, is lively and sweet.
—Publisher's Weekly
[Fillion's] ingenuous voice is matched by equally enthusiastic, folk-style artwork, which looks to be made with oil pastels and is dominated by warm, Tuscan colors...Both tasty and just filling enough, just like a slice of pizza margherita.
—Kirkus Reviews
Where better to celebrate food than in Italy, home of perhaps the most globally popular food of all, pizza?...Fillion includes amusing touches in her handsome paintings...Given how much Americans like pizza, this book should find many interested readers.
—The New York Times
September 28, 2013
A bilingual (English/Italian) picture book in which a young girl introduces readers to her neighborhood (Pienza) and her favorite food: pizza. Text is simple, yet informative. Tons of history is included and only 1 sentence of text appears on each page. Following the story are many fine resources for exploring Italian culture and pizza in depth.
I was really impressed with the inclusion of the pronunciation guide that gave readers everything they would need to be able to decipher the Italian text and enjoy a bilingual experience reading the book. Also included is an author's note about her inspiration in writing this story, a brief history of pizza, and a recipe.
This is a great multi-cultural read and one that would be a great update to a pizza storytime set. PreK-2.
I was really impressed with the inclusion of the pronunciation guide that gave readers everything they would need to be able to decipher the Italian text and enjoy a bilingual experience reading the book. Also included is an author's note about her inspiration in writing this story, a brief history of pizza, and a recipe.
This is a great multi-cultural read and one that would be a great update to a pizza storytime set. PreK-2.
December 9, 2013
Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Nonfiction: History (with fictional narrator)
Food: Pizza
This nonfiction book was the perfect length for this younger age group and provided a nice introduction to the history of pizza. Plus: it's in Italian, too.
Nonfiction: History (with fictional narrator)
Food: Pizza
This nonfiction book was the perfect length for this younger age group and provided a nice introduction to the history of pizza. Plus: it's in Italian, too.
July 29, 2016
A bilingual English/Italian picture book with roughly one sentence per page, this book gives a glimpse into life in Italy. Very nice illustrations. The end notes include a recipe, brief history of pizza and an Italian pronunciation guide.
September 25, 2013
Would be a good readaloud for a class visit.
February 3, 2016
Loved the bilingual way of telling the story.
Also I like the pizza recipe from the end of the book and all the "history of pizza" information.
Also I like the pizza recipe from the end of the book and all the "history of pizza" information.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews