How Pizza Came to Queens
Written by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
Illustrated by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
Reviewed by Emily I. (age 8) & Bari N. (age 9)
Long ago before there was not any kind of pizza, there was hardly anything good to eat in Queens. But one day a girl named May's mom and dad went on vacation. May went to her friend's house for the weekend. Then the mother of the friend said a distant cousin, Mrs. Pelligrino, was coming from Italy to visit. When she got there she was very upset and wouldn't let go of a special green package she had brought with her. They were trying to help her feel better, but they couldn't. Mrs. Pelligrino said, "No pizza." But they didn't know what pizza was. The next day, the girls went to the library to get recipes for pizza. Then they went to get food for the recipe. When they came home, Mrs. Pelligrino said, "Pizza!" She helped the girls make the pizza and she was very happy. They had a party and served pizza to everyone. The next morning, she had to go back home to Italy. The girls said, "We can't wait until you come back next year!" May said, "Every time we have pizza, we will think of you."
Our favorite character is Mrs. Pelligrino because her accent made us laugh. Bari's favorite part in the book was when they made the pizza because then Mrs. Pelligrino was happy. Emily's favorite part is when Mrs. Pelligrino said, "You no touch." We think this book is a good book because it is about tolerance. In the beginning, we felt sad but at the end we felt happy. We think the illustrations are good because they looked real.
We recommend this book to people who like pizza because you can learn how to make pizza. There is a recipe at the end of the book. If you read this book, you will learn about tolerance. Anyone can read this book. This book might sound easy, but it is not.