Book of the Day: Pete's a Pizza

Pete's a Pizza
William Steig
(1998)

This book is hilarious!   It's raining outside and Pete is bummed, so his dad turns him into a pizza.   The funniest part is when his dad tickles him.   Pete's dad says, "Pizza's are not supposed to laugh."  Pete replies,  "pizza-makers are not supposed to tickle their pizzas."    By the time the pizza game is done, the sun is out and Pete can go out and play.   Besides the fact, that in our neck of the woods a little rain doesn't stop a kid from playing outside, there is a little moral here--make lemonade out of lemons.   But the real reason we love this book is that Mirette makes me act out all the steps--just like in the book and we both laugh hard and long.   It brings a certain silly intimacy our way and for that I do adore this book.

William Steig (1907-2003) was quite a Don Juan.  He had four wives, one of whom was  the sister of Margaret Mead.    

Other facts:
He never completed college
Played water polo
Has a brother that's telepathic
Started writing kids books in his 60's
He was a cartoonist at The New Yorker
He published drawing books for adults (Can't wait to check them out!  One is entitled Our Miserable Life.)
Shrek means FEAR in Yiddish
He loved Pinnochio as a kid
Wilhelm Reich was his therapist.  He sat daily in a Orgone box to try and collect orgasmic energy--what???
His parents were Jewish socialists
Sylvyster and the Magic Pebble was banned in various places for depicting police as pigs.
Pete's a Pizza was conceived in one night!


This is a VERY long article with tons of interesting other factoids about the author:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/longbox/60/

New York Times Obit:   http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/05/nyregion/william-steig-95-dies-tough-youths-and-jealous-satyrs-scowled-in-his-cartoons.html?src=pm

A funny article on the Orgone machine:  http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/29/arts/wry-child-unconscious-william-steig-90-art-life-mysterious-orgone.html?src=pm