What's funnier than a pie in the sky? A pie in the face!
How the pie gets there - along with three other pies flying in V formation during the twelfth annual Worldwide Dessert Contest - is a double scoop of a story.
It begins with John Applefeller, the annual last-place finisher in the celebrated event that every July draws hundreds of international dessert chefs to compete for the coveted Silver Spoon (and to compete against Sylvester S. Sweet, the self-proclaimed King of Dessert, who always wins).
There's something fishy about Sweet's success, but only Josiah Benson, the Worldwide Dessert Contest janitor, seems to know what's up. And who listens to him? Certainly not the four judges, experts on ice cream, sugar, cakes, and dessert history.
Stanley listens, Applefeller's ten year old assistant, who has helped his boss with his newest and most original contest entry - the world's largest apple pancake. If it weren't for Stanley, Applefeller - and you - would never journey in an apple-souffle balloon to the island of Iambia, or meet Captain B. Rollie Ragoon, the dessert-making genius who has his own reasons for suspecting Sweet of sour deeds, or discover how important heart is to winning.
"The Worldwide Dessert Contest: Enhanced Multimedia Edition" features all the text of the 1998 Orchard Books release, as well an original musical score from the play that the book inspired. Read the story, then click on a link to listen to the companion songs in this cutting edge, one of a kind, 21st Century children's fantasy novel from Alina Adams Media!
Publishers Weekly:
A little bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a dash of Homer Price's donut maker, this novel pays homage to the longstanding rapport between children and sweets. John Apple longs to win the Worldwide Dessert Contest, but all his delicious desserts have a penchant for changing into something else at the last minute. The way he overcomes this difficulty and takes first place involves a search for the greatest chef in the world, the defeat of the thieving title-holder of the contest and a run-in with a judge who has, thanks to John, a caramel apple bonded to his cheek from their last encounter. Elish writes with a sure hand of this sugary world, his tongue squarely in the area of his sweet tooth. For his ability to praise desserts in an endlessly original fashion, he deserves a blue ribbon. Ages 9-11.
School Library Journal:
Gr 4-6 John Applefeller's Aunt Harriet always used to say, ``The importance of desserts must never be underestimated.'' And that's why John is trying for the 11th time to win the Silver Spoon Award in the Appleton Dessert Contest. When his apple pancake turns into a trampoline, after the previous year's apple mousse became cement and his apple French toast changed into knee pads, John knows that he needs help. He goes to Iambia to seek the great, rhyming dessert chef Ragoon. This funny, slapstick adventure skirts close to silliness on occasion, yet wild desserts such as roller skating apple pies, rhyming citizens, and despicable villain Sylvester Sweet should keep youngsters happily entertained. This should be a great read-aloud.
How the pie gets there - along with three other pies flying in V formation during the twelfth annual Worldwide Dessert Contest - is a double scoop of a story.
It begins with John Applefeller, the annual last-place finisher in the celebrated event that every July draws hundreds of international dessert chefs to compete for the coveted Silver Spoon (and to compete against Sylvester S. Sweet, the self-proclaimed King of Dessert, who always wins).
There's something fishy about Sweet's success, but only Josiah Benson, the Worldwide Dessert Contest janitor, seems to know what's up. And who listens to him? Certainly not the four judges, experts on ice cream, sugar, cakes, and dessert history.
Stanley listens, Applefeller's ten year old assistant, who has helped his boss with his newest and most original contest entry - the world's largest apple pancake. If it weren't for Stanley, Applefeller - and you - would never journey in an apple-souffle balloon to the island of Iambia, or meet Captain B. Rollie Ragoon, the dessert-making genius who has his own reasons for suspecting Sweet of sour deeds, or discover how important heart is to winning.
"The Worldwide Dessert Contest: Enhanced Multimedia Edition" features all the text of the 1998 Orchard Books release, as well an original musical score from the play that the book inspired. Read the story, then click on a link to listen to the companion songs in this cutting edge, one of a kind, 21st Century children's fantasy novel from Alina Adams Media!
Publishers Weekly:
A little bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a dash of Homer Price's donut maker, this novel pays homage to the longstanding rapport between children and sweets. John Apple longs to win the Worldwide Dessert Contest, but all his delicious desserts have a penchant for changing into something else at the last minute. The way he overcomes this difficulty and takes first place involves a search for the greatest chef in the world, the defeat of the thieving title-holder of the contest and a run-in with a judge who has, thanks to John, a caramel apple bonded to his cheek from their last encounter. Elish writes with a sure hand of this sugary world, his tongue squarely in the area of his sweet tooth. For his ability to praise desserts in an endlessly original fashion, he deserves a blue ribbon. Ages 9-11.
School Library Journal:
Gr 4-6 John Applefeller's Aunt Harriet always used to say, ``The importance of desserts must never be underestimated.'' And that's why John is trying for the 11th time to win the Silver Spoon Award in the Appleton Dessert Contest. When his apple pancake turns into a trampoline, after the previous year's apple mousse became cement and his apple French toast changed into knee pads, John knows that he needs help. He goes to Iambia to seek the great, rhyming dessert chef Ragoon. This funny, slapstick adventure skirts close to silliness on occasion, yet wild desserts such as roller skating apple pies, rhyming citizens, and despicable villain Sylvester Sweet should keep youngsters happily entertained. This should be a great read-aloud.
