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Forwarded message from Nina Lindsay
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From: Chris Dowling <cdowling>
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 10:23:41 -0600
Forwarded message ---------Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 09:51:51 00 (PST) From: Lindsay To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Re: Pete's a Pizza -Reply
I've used "Pete's a Pizza" many many times in my preschool storytime, where it's always been a hit. Adults are really blown away by this book because of it's humor. It's got a very-sophisticated-kid sort of humor, and the parents and caregivers in the group tend to guffaw out-loud as I read, and then cover their mouths, embarrassed. The kids, meanwhile, watch very quietly and intently: because that is the tone of the book, and they're not surprised -- they're very familiar with this sort of humor. The illustrations add to the straightforward, falsely?lm sense of the book, as well as the white space and uniquely cool typeface. The pages *don't* carry a great distance; but Steig's textual asides ("they
[the pepperoni] were really checkers") serve as "illustration" also, and add to the oral-story/you-and-me-in-on-this-joke, don't-laugh-and-spoil-it-for-the?ults mood. Towards the end, when, in the story, the game starts to break up ("Pizza makers aren't supposed to tickle their pizzas!"), the audience's demeanor also starts to show signs of cracking -- but Steig ends it brilliantly and elegantly: going all the way to the edge but never over it ("And the pizza went outside to play with his friends"). (Note: my copy is checked out, so I've been paraphrasing text from memory ... I suspect that last line is not on the dot....) Afterwards is when they cut up -- I always follow this book with a pizza-making session, and the storytime rug turns into a writhing sea of preschoolers tickling each other, fringed by a shore of adults speechlessly impressed with their kids' ability to understand and play along with such a sophisticated joke.
Nina
Nina Lindsay, Children's Librarian Melrose Branch, Oakland Public Library 4805 Foothill Boulevard Oakland, CA 94601
(510)535V23 linds_na at oak2.ci.oakland.ca.us
~~~~~ Chris Dowling, School of Education, UW-Madison 225 N. Mills Street, Madison, WI 53706 voice(608&3C39), fax(608&2`50)
Received on Wed 31 Mar 1999 10:23:41 AM CST
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 10:23:41 -0600
Forwarded message ---------Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 09:51:51 00 (PST) From: Lindsay To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Re: Pete's a Pizza -Reply
I've used "Pete's a Pizza" many many times in my preschool storytime, where it's always been a hit. Adults are really blown away by this book because of it's humor. It's got a very-sophisticated-kid sort of humor, and the parents and caregivers in the group tend to guffaw out-loud as I read, and then cover their mouths, embarrassed. The kids, meanwhile, watch very quietly and intently: because that is the tone of the book, and they're not surprised -- they're very familiar with this sort of humor. The illustrations add to the straightforward, falsely?lm sense of the book, as well as the white space and uniquely cool typeface. The pages *don't* carry a great distance; but Steig's textual asides ("they
[the pepperoni] were really checkers") serve as "illustration" also, and add to the oral-story/you-and-me-in-on-this-joke, don't-laugh-and-spoil-it-for-the?ults mood. Towards the end, when, in the story, the game starts to break up ("Pizza makers aren't supposed to tickle their pizzas!"), the audience's demeanor also starts to show signs of cracking -- but Steig ends it brilliantly and elegantly: going all the way to the edge but never over it ("And the pizza went outside to play with his friends"). (Note: my copy is checked out, so I've been paraphrasing text from memory ... I suspect that last line is not on the dot....) Afterwards is when they cut up -- I always follow this book with a pizza-making session, and the storytime rug turns into a writhing sea of preschoolers tickling each other, fringed by a shore of adults speechlessly impressed with their kids' ability to understand and play along with such a sophisticated joke.
Nina
Nina Lindsay, Children's Librarian Melrose Branch, Oakland Public Library 4805 Foothill Boulevard Oakland, CA 94601
(510)535V23 linds_na at oak2.ci.oakland.ca.us
~~~~~ Chris Dowling, School of Education, UW-Madison 225 N. Mills Street, Madison, WI 53706 voice(608&3C39), fax(608&2`50)
Received on Wed 31 Mar 1999 10:23:41 AM CST
