Pizza for the Queen (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Pizza for the Queen Timnah Card Castaldo, Nancy Pizza for the Queen; illus. by Mélisande Potter. Holiday House, 200532p ISBN 0-8234-1865-0$16.95 R Gr. 3-5 In 1889, Raffaele, a humble Neopolitan pizzaiuolo, is invited to bake pizza for Queen Margherita, so that she can "taste what all the fuss is about." Delighted (and a bit intimidated), Raffaele visits all the best local vendors and chooses his toppings carefully from their stores. He creates three luscious pizzas for the queen's delectation, including one in the colors of the Italian flag with red tomato, green basil, and white mozzarella cheese. Pleased with all the pizzas, the queen nevertheless prefers the red, green, and white pie, which is then named in her honor: Pizza Margherita, the forerunner of the cheese pizza beloved of Americans today. Readers may need some assistance in sounding out the bits of Italian that pepper the narrative, but they're part of the details that bring the city of Naples to life and give Raffaele and his story warmth and personality. The illustrations are voluptuously gobby, swirly, almost gaudy fusions of chunked-up figures in flattened three-dimensional space, formally posed on cluttered backgrounds, all with an [End Page 77] irrepressible, jovial air—perhaps what the Breughels would have painted had they worked in sunny Italy. A recipe for homemade Pizza Margherita (appropriate for kitchen-savvy middle-graders with adult help) is included. An author's note gives historical background and reference information. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois