Pickle-Chiffon Pie [Hardcover]

Jolly Roger Bradfield (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2004 | Age Range: 3 and up

Pickle-Chiffon Pie is a story without a villain. No fighting, no bloodshed, but still exciting and fast-moving. It is a tale that stretches the imagination: the reader must accept a juggling lion (six cans of root beer at once!) and a sixteen-foot Gazoo. Not a hard assignment for a child, but perhaps a bit more difficult for a wordly grown-up.

Take heart, you staid elders. The story has elements running throughout that should appeal to adults as well as children (how 'bout mice that paint in the fashion of Picasso, Matisse, Grant Wood and even Toulouse Lautrec?) because the author knew that if a story IS A REALLY GOOD ONE, parents everywhere would be commanded by their children to read it aloud again and again. And maybe even once more...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Bradfield studied at the Minneapolis School of Art, the Academie Julian in Paris, and the Heatherly School of Art in London. He has headed his own commercial art studio, written and illustrated award-winning children's books and created art for both movies and television.

Bradfield was born in White Bear, Minnesota, in 1924. He launched his career with the advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He then spent several years working in England and France, where he did humorous illustrations for Punch and Good Housekeeping magazines. He returned to the U.S. and opened his own commercial art studio in 1953. Among the many awards garnered at this stage of his career was the prestigious National Fashion Academy Gold Medal for his work in package design.

A successful creator of children's books, he has won awards for his writing and illustration in this field and has had his books chosen as Junior Literary Guild selections. Bradfield is perhaps best-known for writing and illustrating the comic strip Dooley's World, which was syndicated world-wide by King Features.

Upon retiring in 1988, Bradfield has been able to spend a great deal of time painting - mostly in watercolor. Since then he has sketched in Greece, Norway, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain and Mexico, gathering subjects for his paintings. He says, "When someone looks at one of my paintings I want them to get the impression that I had fun doing it and that I did it almost without effort. That's really the hardest part - making it look easy.

When asked of what he was most proud Bradfield answered easily, "My kids. There are five of them and they are all happy, successful and well-adjusted. More importantly, they love one another...and each has found a wonderful mate." When asked what he valued the most in life, he replied, "Same answer - my kids...along with my wife, Joan. I have absolutely no doubt that she is the sweetest, most agreeable person in the world."

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Purple House Press; First Edition edition (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930900309
• ISBN-13: 978-1930900301
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Book November 11, 2004

By Jill Martin

Format:Hardcover

My brother was given this book almost 35 years ago. I shamelessly filched it. Since then I have surely read tens of thousands of books. But I can say with utmost confidence that this book is the best, the most perfect, the MOST WONDERFUL book ever written. I have read it to my own children and to their school classes in their turn. It withstands the ongoing test of time and variety of children. It lives in tape-bound glory in an honored spot on the bookshelf. At night you can see a faint halo.

So what makes this the perfect book? Firstly, it flawlessly follows the immutable Fairy Tale Law of Three giving it that well-grounded solidity found in generations of three aspirants/sisters/brothers/ogres/bears/billy goats gruff, three encounters, three days, three chances, etc. Secondly, it is a rich and engaging story without being wordy or trendy. But thirdly, there's the sense of rightness, of contentment at the state of a well-run world, the desire to go whisking off to that happy kingdom as the last page is regretfully turned. Also, there's pie.

(After wondering for years what a Pickle Chiffon Pie actually tastes like and being prodded by questions from my own children, I conducted extensive research. I found that Pickle Chiffon Pie tastes mysteriously JUST LIKE a green-tinted lemon meringue pie. My children, their classmates, and I were pleased.)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A story of kindness and consideration for others.... September 16, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

A king had a daughter with too many suitors. They would bring gifts and she would invite them to stay for dinner. That ment less Pickle-Chiffon Pie for the king. He decided to put the three nicest princes to a test...'The one who brings back the most unusual, the most marvelous, the MOST WONDERFUL THING' from the forest 'may marry the Princess.'

This is the first book I ever read. I was 6 when my sister bought it for me, and now my son reads it. It is 'a story of kindness and consideration for others'...something that has endured throughout the generations.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic for any generation November 28, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

When I was growing up, my mother read this story to me over and over. No other book from my childhood stands out in my memory the way this one does. The timeless lessons in generosity and graciousness are ones I would love to share with my own children if I can find a copy of the book.