Richard Scarry's The Great Pie Robbery

by Richard Scarry

Meet super-sleuths Sam Cat and Dudley they're after the bad guys who stole yummy pies from Ma Dog's bakery! But when the robbers run into a restaurant where ALL the diners have cherry pie-covered faces, how will Sam and Dudley catch their thieves? With a squinch and a crash and a great big cruuuunch, the bumbling detectives cook up deliciously comic fun! 

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

34 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

RICHARD SCARRY is one of the world's best-loved children's authors EVER! In his extraordinary career, Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never been out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies around the world, and are currently published in over twenty languages. No other illustrator has shown such a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. Richard Scarry was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in 2012.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my son's favorite book when he was five. He checked it out of the library so many times that finally the librarian GAVE it to him. He's 36 now, and he still has it.

So yesterday, I read it to my five-year-old grandson for the first time. And for the second time, and the third, and the fourth. Back to back. In one sitting. Then he took it to bed with him.

What is it about this crazy book? If I encountered it in a library, I'd glance through it and reject it as goofy and inconsequential. But my son, and now my grandson, think it's the BEST BOOK EVER. And here are the questions my grandson asked last night as we were reading it: "Why are there robbers? Why do people steal things? What do we do with robbers when we catch them? How can we stop them? Why are some people bad? Why didn't they have enough food?"

Goofy? Inconsequential? No way. This is why adults, myself included, shouldn't be dogmatic about what kids should read.

By the way, I had another son who was indifferent to the book, as was my daughter. Mileage varies. But to certain five-year-old boys, this book is the best book ever. Some of the lines in the story became family quotes, used at many silly occasions, such as "No, we are sitting on our own hats."

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amusing to read and the plot was well developed yet simple to follow!
It made for a fun adventure.

[Robu-sensei · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little emblem, "A Richard Scarry Mystery," with the two detectives' hugely enlarged eyes looking through the magnifying glass used to crack me up when I was little. The story was okay, I guess.