Pete's a Pizza

So, you know those parenting books that talk about 'authoritarian' parents on one end of a spectrum and 'permissive' parents on the other, and explain in a couple of hundred pages why it's best to be in the middle of that spectrum? Well, this book probably never intended to, but it illustrates that whole concept in a handful of short, illustrated-with-happy-pictures pages. Pete's in a bad mood and his father doesn't lecture him about having good attitude. He doesn't pander to him and let him make everyone else in the house miserable. He just spends some time with him, and soon Pete's mother joins in too. A great book for all ages, fun to read to, by, or with kids, with the added bonus of maybe saving you from having to read that show more parenting tome, ha ha. show less

Pete had planned to go play ball with his friends, but it's raining! Pete's parents cheer him up by making him into a pizza: kneading, stretching, and twirling the dough, adding tomatoes (checkers) and cheese (pieces of paper), and baking it in the oven (the couch) - even tickling it! Eventually the sun comes out and Pete goes out to play. Pete's parents turned a bad mood around with good humor!

"Pizzas are not supposed to laugh."
"Pizza-makers are not supposed to tickle their pizzas!"

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Re-read many times, including storytimes
August 2019 (w/ pizza craft)
See also: World Pizza by Cece Meng, Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter

It'd probably be unusual for any other author or illustrator to try to write a book about kids being turned into food. But for William Steig, "Pete's a Pizza" is just a natural - it's a great, clever book about a boy, Pete, who gets imagined into a pizza by his dear old dad.

William Steig's silly, signature cartoon-style illustrations are accompanied this time around by tremendous present-tense prose - with simple, short, tongue-in-cheek sentences, as if Steig's taking great delight in describing the action to you, the reader. It comes very naturally to sympathize with Pete, who rather wishes it'd stop raining so he could play outside, but in the meantime will enjoy being turned into a pizza by his understanding father. And as Pete is show more rolled as dough, and layered with tomatoes, and then topped with cheese, the playful exchange between father-and-son is almost too enjoyable to care about anything else - for us, and them. "Pete's a Pizza" is just too much fun.

Children will almost undoubtedly beg their parents to turn them into a pizza after reading this book, and parents will likely remember their own playful exchanges with either their parents or their kids. It's a feat for a book to strike just such a wonderful invitation to families, and it's only right for this book to sit on your kitchen counter at all times - to wait for just the perfect rainy afternoon. show less

Age Range: 3-7

A boy feels grumpy on a rainy day, until his dad cheers him up by pretending to turn him into a pizza. Through playful imagination of kneading, tossing, and sprinkling toppings on Pete, his mood brightens with laughter.

I could use this book to support lessons on imaginative play, emotions, and how families care for one another. It’s also a great example for acting out sequences, practicing verbs, or having students create their own playful “pretend recipes.”

This is a fun and funny story, and little kids should be able to relate well to Pete. Pete is bored, so his parents brighten his day by playing a silly make-believe game with him. Actually, what Pete's dad did sounded exactly like something my husband might do, therefore I was a little surprised how untouched my (3 year old) son seemed to be by this book. He appeared to find it rather banal, but I thought it was rather neat myself.

Genre- realistic fiction
summary: this book is about a boy that gets upset because the weather ruins his plans and so the boys father wants to cheer him up so they make him into a pizza.
reflection: I really enjoyed reading this book. at first I thought that it was weird but then i made the connection to when i was younger and my dad would roll me up into a burrito. It was fun and it made me laugh.
I would use this in my classroom library.

A hilarious, touching story about a boy whose father turns disappointment into a game of "pizza." This is a perfect story to read to a bummed-out child in need of a laugh.