Extra Cheese, Please!: Mozzarella's Journey from Cow to Pizza

by Cris Peterson, Cris Peterson

When Cris Peterson's cow Annabelle gives birth to a calf, an amazing process begins. Now Annabelle can produce milk -- about 40,000 glasses of milk each year, or enough cheese to top 1,800 pizzas. Alvis Upitis's sparkling photographs document the cheese-making process -- starting on the farm where Annabelle's calf is born and milking begins, then moving to the cheese-making plant where the milk is heated and cooled, stirred and swirled, thickened, drained, and sliced, and finally packaged for stores. Cris Peterson's personal and informative text explains the process in a simple and engaging manner. A wonderful collaboration, concluding with the author's own recipe for pizza.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Cris Peterson is the author of ten books for children, including Century Farm: One Hundred Years on a Family Farm; Horsepower: The Wonder of Draft Horses; and Harvest Year. She has been honored by dairy and agricultural organizations across the country, both for her writing for children and her contribution to a clearer understanding of farming in the United States.

Reviews

[Reith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a long and difficult read, yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. It explores many social issues, like greaf, jealousy, decievement, and family distrust. This was an incredibly emotional journey, as mozzarella is guided through its cow-to-pizza transformation, which represents how a young wisconsin boy, deprived of affection and surrounded by a family of liars can make his way into the great big world of podcasts, sketch comedy, and commentary videos. After completing this emotional journey of this book, I have finally come to the realization that mothers suck, and that mozzarella is just kinda ok.

[Stefan Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent tale of mozzarella's journey from cow to pizza, but I was thoroughly disappointed Gus wasn't pictured in it, after he told me he was.

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was looking for something to tie nicely with the DVD "Lets Go to the Farm" from Vermont Storyworks, and was fortunate to find this one. Asking my students what they learned from the movie, I segued into this book, sharing it with my projector and Activeboard, which let me zoom in on some of the photos that might otherwise have had little impact if shared just by holding the book up for the group. We compared and contrasted between the dairy farm in the movie and what was in the book, which was a good exercise in and of itself. To make it even richer though, the book had an excellent glossary of terms (though it would have been helpful had the glossary words been in bold print within the text). The glossary allowed me a great opportunity to discuss what a glossary was and the abc arrangement with my younger students and ordered a good practice with my older ones. There were several words within the text that offered a good chance to discuss language devices, such as describing the cows as "big boney bossies" (alliteration) and homophones, such as "knead" and "need," and similes (describing the farm buildings as being like a big red mountain). I love it when a book offers up great information, holds the kids' interest, and teaches us all something. This book did that.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 3 out of 5]

A link to my review: http://mamalibrarian.blogspot.com/201...

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun to read as a companion book to my Pizza for the Queen! Of course, read them both on your next pizza night!

[Kelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wisconsin

[CFAITC]

Follow the cheese-making process from cow to pizza topping.