Noodle Man: the Pasta Superhero

by April Pulley Sayre, Stephen Costanza (Illustrator)

With his spaghetti-thin arms and farfalle tie, Al Dente might not look like a superhero, but never underestimate the power of pasta. It's served up with antic illustrations and outrageous puns.

Pasta is the passion of the Dente family. The business is a fresh-pasta deli, but business, frankly, is slow. The neighbors in the town of Durum are ordering pizzas, not pasta. So their son, Al Dente, has a brilliant the world's first adjustable, portable, fresh-pasta maker. Unfortunately, he is no good at selling pasta door-to-door. But pasta, it turns out, is a remarkably adaptable food--ideal for catching crooks, saving children, and making heros. Served up with antic illustrations and outrageous puns, this wacky treat is sure to have children clamoring for second helpings. Never underestimate the power of pasta!

Genres: Picture Books, Superheroes, Food, Childrens, Humor

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

April Pulley Sayre was an award-winning children’s book author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the noodly illustrations. A lot!

And yes, the story seems a bit too much of noodles and pasta but what more could I expect when the story is meant to be like that!

Well, a story about the pasta business in a family. And yes, it's like the child in the family has to carry on the family business.

That's all.

Love the imagination presented in the story though.

[Kate Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another picture book I've read to my nephews recently. ;) They're obsessed with superheroes, so this clever story with ZANY illustrations was fun. They don't know a lot of pasta names, though, so some of the references went over their heads. ;)

[carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pasta is the passion of the Dente family. Their business is a fresh-pasta deli, but business, frankly, is slow. The neighbors in the town of Durum are ordering pizzas, not pasta. Their son, Al, has a brilliant idea: the world¹s first portable, fresh-pasta maker. Unfortunately, he is no good at selling pasta door-to-door. But pasta, it turns out, is a remarkably adaptable food ­ ideal for catching crooks, saving children, and making heroes. Served up with fun illustrations and outrageous puns, this wacky treat is sure to have children clamoring for second helpings. Never underestimate the power of pasta!" - product description


I got this book because it reminded me of my boyfriend - who is Italian and makes really good fresh pasta. I liked the humor in the book, however, unless little kids are familiar with pasta, they may not get the jokes.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, fun illustrations, but maybe hard for small children to follow.

I liked the creativity of this story in how the main character, Al Dente, uses his family's pasta to ultimately save his town. I enjoyed how the illustrator created multiple scenes on a page by putting events together linearly. I think this could help children follow along. There are a lot of different names of pastas that might get confusing for children, but they are represented in the illustrations for the most part. One aspect I didn't like is the lack of development for a few characters and ideas. Things are mentioned, but not really explained.

This book also contains great examples of onomatopoeia.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun read, though long for a preschooler. I was hoping my pasta-fanatic four year old would embrace it, especially for the similarities to his favorite superhero, Spider-man, but no such luck. I think he had trouble following it. Will get it out again with pleasure when he is a couple of years older.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Dente tries to save his family's pasta deli which is about to go out of business because pizza delivery has taken away all their customers. He creates a pasta making machine that he can wear as a back pack and tries to sell pasta door to door. Inadvertently, he become a super hero by saving people with his pasta.

Full of food-related puns.

Great illustrations.

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

We're big pasta eaters in my family (Italian grandma!), so I had high expectations for this book. It was a good story - my kids really enjoyed it. They really want a lasagna slide now! I got a little tired of all the pasta puns, though! :)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man did this book make me hungry for Pasta. This is a little long for a storytime but I think kids would love it. There's all sorts of new vocabulary to be had in the pasta names they give.

The set-up is a little funny to me though. Where is this magical land where no one likes pasta?

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book,though told in comical style, informed me about pasta because the superhero Al Dente was a pasta fanatic. This is a superhero comedy about a pasta-powered superhero. Lots of fun with an endnote about pasta that makes it educational at the same time.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of this book though the little guy in the house thinks it's great. We like yelling "Noodle Man!" around the house, too.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al Dente's invention of a portable pasta machine turns him into a superhero and helps to save the family fresh pasta business.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this booK!

[MJ]

food

[Aya Chadwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't pronounce some of the pastas but i loved the story. Very creative and funny!

[Misbah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A guy who loves pasta uses a noodle invention to help people and earns himself the name of pasta superhero. He also saves his noodle food truck business as well.

[Kiyoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but this book didn't grab me. Lots of action towards the end but somewhat difficult to follow.

Lots of pasta names and play on words for the character names (which my kids didn't understand).

I had to go back and try to fit together the story from the last page. Some details were totally muddled.

On a very busy page we see a pizza delivery girl, but she does not yet have a name.
"Al watched the pizza delivery person leave. There was something about her..."

Then the book takes off, and Al has a number of pasta adventures, where he saves the city from calamity again and again. Then... big catastrophe!

"A pizza delivery truck had hit a power pole, bounced off, caught fire, and landed in the town fountain. "My wrist is sprained. I can't climb down," yelled the pizza truck driver.

Al climbs to where the pizza driver is stranded. "'We'll swing off together," Al told the pizza truck driver, a lovely dark-haired woman named Mari Nara.

And then the book draws to a close.

"Al began training community-watch noodle brigades. At night he cooked pasta dinners for Mari at her house. After all, she couldn't spin pizza dough with her sprained wrist."

I just had a difficult time remembering the character, Mari, from all the rest of the action. It seemed like an afterthought.

3 stars (barely)

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, it was good. But it failed to impress me. It felt disjointed a little. But simply, the story fell flat.

[em petlev · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best picture book in the entire known and unknown universe