How to Bake an American Pie [Hardcover]

Karma Wilson (Author), Raul Colon (Illustrator)

Book Description

How do you bake an American pie?

Preheat the world until fiery hot with a hunger and thirst to be free. Now find a giant melting pot on the shores of a great shining sea.

From the bestselling author of Bear Snores On comes a remarkable recipe for America.

Including a dash of purple mountain majesties, cupfuls of courage, and a pinch of liberty, this beautifully illustrated combination of ingredients yields an irresistible treat that promises plenty of servings for children everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–Wilson serves up a celebration of our country, its founders, and the immigrants who built it with this rhyming recipe. With frequent references to America the Beautiful, the tribute includes tangible geographic ingredients such as fruited plains, fields/of amber grains, and purple mountain majesties. Less-tangible fixings include meekness, might, courage, liberty, justice, freedom, dreams, forgiveness, and customs/from faraway lands. As the bakers add these essentials, the larger-than-life pie rises in its cast-iron melting pot. While the rhymes are clever, they are also saccharine: The secret ingredients/cannot be bought,/so borrow/from Heaven above./The key to it all/is to pour in the pot/plenty of/faith, hope, and love. Colón's signature cross-hatched ink-and-watercolor illustrations, both sunny and whimsical, are the key ingredient in this otherwise syrupy dish. An amiable cat and dog sporting chefs' hats first preheat the world–a giant globe over a campfire–and then consult a cookbook, roasting wieners while they wait. A huge rolling pin flattens fields where giant apples, pears, and berries dwarf two grazing cows. Immigrants in period costume, suitcases and American flags in hand, free fall into a safety net guarded by the furry bakers. Observant readers will spy the strategically placed American symbols including the bald eagle, Statue of Liberty, White House, Mount Rushmore, and Columbus's ships. Kelly DiPucchio's Liberty's Journey (Hyperion, 2004), which features striking art by Richard Egielski, covers similar ground with less sentimentality. Use this title to introduce immigration units.–Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Fans of Colon's elegant artwork will be surprised and delighted to find that he has taken his pictures to a place of whimsy that will have immediate appeal for the youngest children. The vehicle for the art is a highly original one: a recipe for America, beginning with "Preheat the world until fiery hot with a hunger and thirst to be free." Wilson's instructions then include "pat out a crust of fruited plains," "measure out meekness and might," "spice with ideas seasoned with dreams," and "place in God's grace and allow to rise." Some artists might have chosen a more reverential approach, but Colon goes a different way. His cooks are a cat and a dog, and in these watercolor-and-ink paintings, the action rolls across the spreads in all sorts of fantastical ways. Purple mountain majesties grow out of teacups, and the cooks pull rainbows out of a sky studded with stars and stripes. In one delightfully evocative picture, immigrants of many countries (including a Pilgrim) fall from the sky, suitcases in hand. They land in a safety net held by the cat and dog. Kudos to the book's designer, whose use of white space and typeface enhance every aspect of the book. Pair this wild, wonderful celebration with The Glorious American Songbook (2005), a tribute to the U.S. in song, and Robert Sabuda's America the Beautiful (2004), a pop-up book for a slightly older crowd. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; 1 edition (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689865066
• ISBN-13: 978-0689865060
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a wife, mother of three, writer and photographer. I love to write fun stories, poems, songs, etc... I especially love to write in rhyme because I think that well written rhyme naturally teaches children to expand their vocabulary and love books and reading.

I spend my time in the wilds of northwest Montana, where there are lots of bears and animals like the ones in my bear books! I love the wilderness and all of the animals that live there. My husband and children are also avid lovers of the outdoors.

I am also an amateur photographer. Give me a camera and I'll spend hours snapping photos.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Fourth of July Read, July 3, 2007

By 

T. Myers (TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Bake an American Pie (Hardcover)

My kids love this book and are begging me to buy our own copy. (which is what I am doing) The reverend at the UU Church we attend read the story, and had the kids help act it out, as part of the service commemorating the 4th of July. It is a great book for remembering that we are all part of this land called America, and one that I will use in the classroom as well as here at home.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A NICE STORY; A REMINDER FOR US ALL AND A GREAT GROUP READ., August 8, 2011

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Bake an American Pie (Hardcover)

I like Karma Wilson's work and this patriotic book is no exception. The premise of the rhyming story here is what goes into American. The author and illustrator use the "ingredients" to bake an American Pie.

"Here's how to bake
an American pie
(first ever made on the
Forth of July:)

Preheat
the world until
fiery hot
with a
Hunger
and thirst
to be free.

Now find
a giant melting pot
on the shores
of a great
shining sea."

The illustrator has used a dog and a cat to act as the bakers. The author's text is rhyming and covers all the aspects of what is good about America and how this goodness was all mixed together to make this wonderful American Pie.

"Add
purple mountain majesties.
Measure
out meekness
and might.
Pour cupfuls
of courage,
as much as you please:
then leaven
with dawn's early light."

This is a smooth read with wonderful illustrations. It is an ideal group read. In these trying days our children are exposed, via T.V. and the world around them, adults yelling and screaming at each other, many times talking about things that children (and I might add, the adults themselves who are doing the screaming), have no clue as to what is going on. This little book is a nice reminder of how we got here and how it is suppose to be.

This is good stuff folks.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, but for the older child, August 13, 2007

By 

A Mom (Sunny AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Bake an American Pie (Hardcover)

What I like best about Karma Wilson is her ability to cobble together great silliness and wonderful rhymes. This is not a silly book. It's a great book, but in my opinion, the text goes over the heads of the little ones who would sit on your lap enjoying the pictures (which are great!) but the pictures may keep the older, more appropriate audience at bay because they find the book too "baby-ish." If you're looking for a read aloud book with patriotic themes, this is a great book. If you're looking for some Karma Wilson silliness, I'd suggest trying her book Whopper Cake instead.