How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.

September 15, 2008
Priceman (How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
) fires up the oven for another fanciful baking–cum–geography lesson. Her aspiring young pastry chef, jaunty pinafore and straw hat in place, embarks on a nationwide search for utensils as well as ingredients when she finds the local cook shop closed. First stop, New York, for a taxi ride to “the corner of Pennsylvania and Ohio”; “Then find the closest coal mine” (used to make steel, and thus a pie pan). Ship, plane, train and bus are among the other modes of transport that carry our heroine from sea to shining sea and beyond, to Alaska and Hawaii, landing her home for pie preparation on the Fourth of July. Like a series of playful postcards, the gouache scenes feature recognizable landmarks (Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore, oil wells), with the girl's loyal Airedale in on the action, too. Fans of the first book will cotton to this second helping, even though it's slightly less spontaneous. And the pie recipe is a welcome extra. Ages 5–8.

November 1, 2008
Gr 1-4-In this follow-up to "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" (Knopf, 1994), a spunky young baker is in the mood for cherry pie. She has the ingredients this time, but she's missing the equipment (bowl, pan, rolling pin, etc.) needed to get the job done. Traveling back and forth across the United States according to instructions that are given recipe style (and can be followed on the endpapers' map), she gathers natural resources from various regions (e.g., cotton from Louisiana to make pot holders) and heads home to manufacture the required objects. Smelting, spinning, weaving, carving, and glass making, the girl works until she has everything ready. The pie is a welcome addition to a July 4th celebration, where floats showcase the places she has visited. Priceman's story is expertly matched to her gouache paintings; loose and sketchy, vivid and childlike, they offer myriad details for each locale. In a school setting, the story is useful for introducing a unit on the United States and for teaching predicting skills. It's also silly enough to circulate just for fun."Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2008
Grades K-2 In 1994 Priceman explained to readers How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Now the desire for cherry pie takesa girland her dogacross the country. Its theFourth of Julyand the stores areclosed, so whats a girl to do but hail a taxi and drive to a Pennsylvania mine to get the coal to make the steel to make the pan? And so it goes, asthe duoraces around the country finding the ingredients for, well, everything, including Hawaiian sand to make glass and New Hampshire granite for the pastry board. The trip is a madcap adventure, but there are many landmarks to observe, and children will get a sense of the breadth and scope of the country. Theyll also learn what it really means to make a pie, as the girl does everything from carve the rolling pin to mix the ingredients. The art brims with good cheer and excites with detail, openingthe way for lots of discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
Priceman's breezy text and freely painted gouache illustrations celebrate America's products and diversity. A girl criss-crosses the U.S. collecting raw materials for a Fourth of July treat. She makes the needed tools ("Melt the sand until it liquefies" for a glass cup) and bakes a pie (recipe included). Readers will enjoy learning about the far-flung sources of ordinary items.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2008
Cooking from scratch is taken to a diverting extreme as "you" (pictured as a lass in blue and white with red ribbons) scour the country for raw materials to make the utensils needed to bake a Fourth of July treat. You snag a taxi to Pennsylvania to collect coal to manufacture steel for a pie pan. Louisiana yields cotton for potholders; Washington, "the only state named for a president, the only president rumored to have a set of wooden teeth," has wood for a rolling pin; for plastic spoons, "you'll need about a quart" of Texas oil. After criss-crossing the country (see attractive endpaper maps), with such added diversions as Alaska "just because it's there," you make the needed tools ("Melt the sand until it liquefies" for a glass cup) and, at last, bake a cherry pie (recipe included, adult assistance recommended) and enjoy a parade. This lighthearted introduction to a few of the many far-flung sources of ordinary items raises more questions than it answers (how does one get from coal to steel?), but perhaps that's also its strength, given curious children and knowledgeable adults. Priceman's breezy text sets the tone for freely painted gouache illustrations celebrating America's people, products, and diversity, all in cheerful colors and with sly touches of humor. Pair this with Elsa Beskow's classic Pelle's New Suit for a dramatic contrast between making things the old way, with local materials, and our present global reach.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)