The essential history of pizza, told by a charming Italian girl who lives in Pienza and whose favorite food is . . . well, you can guess it—pizza. Life in Pienza is pretty old-fashioned, and our young narrator knows everyone on the street and at the market by name. Her grandmother, of course, makes pizza by hand and teaches her how to make it too. While children will love the vibrant illustrations and simple story, adults will be riveted by the history and challenged by the bilingual text—for what good is a history of pizza in English only? Read the Italian out loud—chiudo gli occhi e respiro il suo caldo profumo e il suo sapore—to prepare yourself for homemade pizza of your own (recipe included).
The history of pizza has been told before but never quite like this. Susan Fillion’s Pizza in Pienza is a picture book, written in English and Italian, with charming illustrations rendered in the warm tones of Tuscany.
—The Boston GlobeThe history of pizza charmingly unfolds in a bilingual story with handsome paintings that also celebrate the dish’s county of origin…[the narrator’s] whirlwind tour of Italian culture and history, filtered through a veil of mozzarella, is lively and sweet.
—Publisher’s Weekly[Fillion’s] ingenuous voice is matched by equally enthusiastic, folk-style artwork, which looks to be made with oil pastels and is dominated by warm, Tuscan colors…Both tasty and just filling enough, just like a slice of pizza margherita.
—Kirkus ReviewsWhere better to celebrate food than in Italy, home of perhaps the most globally popular food of all, pizza?…Fillion includes amusing touches in her handsome paintings…Given how much Americans like pizza, this book should find many interested readers.
—The New York Times