Pete's a Pizza

Pete wants to go outside and play baseball. There is just one problem, its raining outside. He is very upset so his dad tries to help make things better. He decides to make Pete into a pizza. He starts by kneading the dough, or rolling Pete. He puts on some cheese, or paper pieces. He goes on until

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Pete is a pizza, or at least he pretends to be. By the time the "pizza" is ready, the rain has stopped.

I loved this book. It is a great idea. I will have to try this with children on my own.

Possible Extensions:
1. The class could make our own "pizza" with the same "ingredients" used in the book.
2. Then we could make our own real pizza. (knead the dough; add sauce, cheese, pepperoni; have it for a class lunch)
3. While the pizza is in the oven, we could color a picture of a pizza, complete with each students own personal pepperoni design.
4. Have a pizza party

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This story is about a young disappointed boy named Pete. He's upset because he can't go outside and play because it is raining. His father tries to cheer him up baking him into an imaginary pizza! His father kneaded, stretched and even whirled him into the air, just like a pizza maker would do! He

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sprinkled him with talcum powder and covered him with checkers and slices of paper! He's ready to be put in the over, or just laid down on the couch. Time flies when you’re being baked into a pizza! The sun is out and it is time to play!

This was a cute book. It reminds me of my old elementary school days. If it was too cold or rainy would could not go outside and play so our teacher tried everything she could do to keep us entertained. Sometimes it worked other times it didn't. It portrays a great relationship between son and father.

One extension idea would be to break the class up into groups and give them something to bake. Such as a cake, pizza, cupcakes, etc. They could use anything in the room! This would be a good way to asses their creativity or just keep them busy for 30 minutes. They could do a language arts activity that would have them write a story about what it would be like to be their favorite food for a day. What would they smell like, taste like, look like?

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A silly book about imaginative parents. Makes me think I should be a more whimsical parent!

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,

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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 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.

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The little boy in this story is sad when it rains and he can not play outside. His fathers plays with him and makes him into a "pizza". The little boy begins to have fun and as soon as he is done being a "pizza" the sun comes out and he gets to play outside.

What a cute book and what a fun game this would be to play. Anyone can be a pizza! I don't really know what to say about this book other than it is really cute and if I were back at the day careI would make all my little toddlers into pizzas!

This represents Realistic Fiction because the story is convincing and true to life. Children should be able to understand the plot and the setting vividly. There are three characters in the story and they are all unique: Pete, him mom, and his dad. The setting fits with the plot because it is set

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in Pete's house where his parents make him into a pizza. The story moves forward easily because the process of making a pizza is shown. This book is best for the Primary level. The media used was watercolor.

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It's raining outside and Pete is sad because he was going to play with his friends. So, his dad uses his imagines to pretend that Pete is a pizza. He puts pepperoni, cheese and other toppings on him, then puts him in the "oven." Pete has fun with this, and ends up having a good time even though he

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didn't get to play with his friends. Genre: Realistic Fiction because all aspects of the story are possible for real life though the character is fictional. Characterization: Pete is round because his feelings are described through narration, his words and actions are also described. Finally, he grows throughout the story (from being sad, to becoming happy with just using his imagination). Media: Ink and watercolor.

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In the book Pete's a Pizza, Pete is upset because it is raining outside so he can't go play with his friends. His parents try to cheer him up by pretending that they are baking him like a pizza. After he feels all better, the sun comes out and he's able to go find his friends.

This book made me

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think of when I was little and my dad would roll my sister and me up in blankets and say we were tacos.

For a classroom connection, I would have a day where my students and myself put together one of those do it yourself pizza kits and divide the kids into groups and allow each group to be responsible for different ingredients.

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A dad decides to cheer up his son by making him into a pizza, fun interaction with the kneading and stretching of dough, adding of cheese and all that jazz. In the end it stops raining and the boy goes out to play, very sweet family interaction story.

I can't think of a more fun way to turn your child's bad mood into a good one than by turning your child into a pizza! Reading this book aloud and acting it out -- kneading the dough, putting tomatoes, sprinkling cheese -- your child won't be able to help but giggle and laugh through this wonderful

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read aloud book. At the same time, they'll learn the steps to making a pizza which will build up their narrative skills for telling stories in sequence.

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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.

Pete's father cheers him up on a rainy day by pretending he's a pizza.

Genre: Realistic fiction
Age: Primary
Media: Watercolor
Review: This book portrays realistic fiction because a young boy being bored when it is raining would be very likely to happen. The characters in the story are not real.
Character: Pete is a flat character. You do not know about his background.

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However you do know about his family structure and his relationship between his family and him. You do not know his thoughts though.

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A young boy and hsi father play a game where the father reinacts making a pizza using his son as the pretend dough and a variety of other household things as the oil, cheese, etc. The two have so much fun doing it and Pete especially likes it when the dough gets tickled.

Pete's a Pizza is an adorable book about a boy who is stuck inside on a rainy day. His father decides to cheer him up by making him a pizza. He puts him on the table and puts pepperoni's on him and cheese, which are just household items. It is a great book for dramatic play and to show that you can

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turn a rainy day into something fun and exciting. There is a lot of white space in the book and all the pictures are in a circular shape. I believe this is because of the pizza theme. I would highly recommend this book for a read aloud and to keep inside a dramatic play area.

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Okay, really charming book here! I love the simple story, and how Pete's parents cheer him up by turning him into a human pizza! Reading this cheered ME up! Cute illustrations too! Love this one!

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

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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 parenting tome, ha ha.

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What a fun book that shows how parents can make you feel better just by playing imagination with you! This book will surely make anyone laugh!

I liked the book "Pete's a Pizza". The illustrations of this book are very important because the writer uses imagination. If they writer hand not included the illustrations the reader would not know how Pete was becoming a pizza. Additionally, I liked the characters. While we aren't given much

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information about them, they are simple enough to understand that they are part of a supportive family. The big idea of this book is that parents will help cheer you up.

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This book is about a little boy named Pete who wanted to play outside with his friends, but it starts raining so he has to stay inside. Due to his boredom, Pete's grandpa uses objects around the house as toppings to make Pete, the pizza dough, into a delicious pizza! Pete, his grandpa and grandma

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have a fun time imagining that Pete is the pizza dough! When they're all finished, it is finally sunny outside and Pete goes outside to find his friends.

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This book is about parents who are trying to cheer up their child. Pete is sad, and so the dad pretends that Pete is a pizza and does silly things like put "pepperoni" on him, and "putting him in the oven". The dad cheers up Pete & he goes to go hangout with his friends.

Steig, W. (1998). Pete’s a pizza. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers.

Pete is disappointed because it starts to rain just when he was supposed to play with his friends. His father cheers him up by playing a game in which the boy is made into a pizza, complete with oil (actually water), flour

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(talcum powder), tomatoes (checkers) and cheese (pieces of paper). Just as Pete is running away to escape being “sliced”, the sun comes out, so he goes out to look for his friends.

This book is based on a play that the author used to play with his younger daughter, and is sure to be heartwarming to any upset (or not) child. In the printed version, the watercolor illustrations stand out on a wide white background, with the short text in uppercase letters below. On the audio CD, the story comes even more to life because the narration is accompanied by noises of the rain, laughter of Pete, the noises of the father making the “pizza” (kneading the “dough”, whirling the “dough”, pouring the water, “sprinkling” the checkers, etc.), and there is also background music that corresponds to the mood of the story. When the characters speak, their voices correspond to who they are (the male narrator does the father’s voice, but a little boy does the voice for Pete). Two audio versions are provided: one with page turn signals (sound of a page turning), and one without. Perfect to read and/or listen to. Ages 5-8.

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Pete is sad; he was supposed to play ball with the guys but the rain changed their plans. Pete’s father, upset to see his son so miserable, carries him into the kitchen, determined to cheer him up.

His father places him on the table and begins to make Pete into a pizza. He kneads the Pete-dough,

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stretches it, and twirls and whirls it in the air. Before young readers can yell, “Pizza,” Pete’s become a pretend ready-to-slice pizza.

The silliness of this story will captivate young readers. The illustrations are perfect for this nonsensical tale that will keep both parents and children laughing. [It might even make them hungry for some pizza.]

Highly recommended.

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