Earlier this week I posted about some great pirate activities we have been doing. These were inspired by Julia Dweck’s Pie-Rits book. These fun activities for the whole family can be seen here. And today I can happily share our review with you!
Our Pie-Rits e-book review had been a guest post on Mother Daughter & Son Book Reviews. Unfortunately, this website has been sold. I have updated this blog post and copied our review here for you.
Fittingly, Tristan has done his own review! Pretty cool for a 5-year-old to have done his first official book review (which is also his first ‘book report’).
We have Renee to thank for introducing us to Julia Dweck, who has since become our favourite author and has inspired many activities in our home!
Son’s Review
1. What is the story about? It’s on the sea. It starts in the bakery. They jump into a mixing bowl then they sail across the sea. They are looking for pirates so they can slice them up.
2. What do you think of the cover and/or the pictures in the book? Good. I like the cover. What I like about is I like pirates. I like pirate ships. I like the pirate playing the piano. This picture I like ‘cause they’re throwing eggs.
3. Who is/are the main character(s)? Can you relate to them? Cherry Cake. Pierre the French bread, and Victor is a flakey crescent roll. I like them. They aren’t like me because they’re not people, they’re just talking bread. They’re a bit funny!
4. What is your favorite part of the story? My favorite part of the story is when they take a donut and jump out of the mixing bowl. I like the banana peel pie when it splits and it drops its sword. And I like when they found the dough!
5. What is your least favorite part of the story? I like the whole book.
6. Are there parts of the story that don’t make sense? The whole thing made sense to me.
7. How did the story make you feel? The story makes me happy ‘cause I like it. [Said while drawing a big smile in the air with his finger].
8. Who do you think would like this book? Nana would like this; she hasn’t read it before.
9. Would you re-read this book? Yes, all the time! [And it’s been read every day for two months straight].
10. Would you recommend it to boys or girls or both? Both ‘cause I’m sure they’d like it too.
Son’s Rating: ★★★★★
Mom’s Review
What it’s about: Cherry is a cupcake in a bakery shop who dreams of faraway adventures. One day Pierre, a French bread arrives with his side-kick Victor in the form of a flakey crescent roll. Pierre sweeps Cherry off her feet and the three of them set sail in a mixing bowl to find the pirates that have stolen all their dough. Once they sneak on board the Pie-Rit ship, the real fun begins as they fight several different kinds of pirates in the form of pies (Pie-Rits). and poor banana Pie-Rit splits. The plays on words are flying as fast as the boysenberries overhead! They encounter a few trials along the way but Cherry saves the day! Cherry, Pierre and Victor sail off into the sunset for more adventures together.
This story must have been a real treat for Fian Arroyo to illustrate, and he did an absolute fantastic job. The pictures perfectly match the mood and prose.
My thoughts: This book is my favourite by Julia Dweck. It has great rhythm and rhyme and the children picked up on it quickly and could finish the lines after only a few reads. My husband giggles while reading it because of all of the clever plays on words used throughout this book. Younger children won’t yet be able to appreciate some of this humour; but older children will have a good laugh with it. It keeps the story entertaining for a wide variety of ages. The illustrations are colourful and amusing with lots of fun things to look for in them such as the skull with a crossed knife and fork on the flag. There are lots of add-on activities that can be done to extend this fun book and bring it to life.
My bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book to others, and I already have. It’s requested daily in our home, and it’s so fun that us parents enjoy reading it so often! Although this isn’t a book that 3-5 year-olds will be able to read on their own, there’s nothing wrong with that as reading with your children is an important and rewarding experience for everyone. This book has something for everyone; a love story, pirates, pies, and action.
Mom’s Rating: ★★★★★
