Tiny Pie

by Mark Bailey, Michael Oatman, Edward Hemingway (Illustrator)

Little Ellie the elephant is the only kid at a grown-up party. No one is paying any attention to poor Ellie, and she can't reach the food! Why must everything be for big people? Then to Ellie's surprise, she discovers a little chef mouse inside a hole in the wall, and he's filming a cooking show! Ellie can see that his sharp senses are key ingredients for a successful tiny pie. Will this be the perfect snack that's just her size? As an added treat, Alice Waters has contributed a delicious tiny apple pie recipe perfect for little hands (and big appetites)!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Fiction, Animals

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2012

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little elephant girl discovers a mouse cooking show going on within the walls of her house. Excitement and baking ensue.

I think the artwork ruined this one for me. Why did the elephants' heads need to be not only so large, but kind of lumpy as well?



Alice Waters's pie recipe, included at the end of the book, looks pretty good, though. Wish I had the ingredients to make it right now.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am alwasy lookin for unconventional picture books and this is one, featuring an elephant who is the only non-adult a party who stumbles on to a mouse party/tv show which is way more fun. Has a touch of surrealism or hyper-relaism in the artwork by Edward Hemingway, but best of all a recipe for Tiny Pies by none other than Famous Chef Alice Waters. None of it makes much sense to me or is very engaging, but it is unique. My copy of the book doesn't have a title on it, just the elephant at the mouse party.

[Rachel Ball · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all. It was bizarre. I wasn't that impressed with the illustrations. The story made zero sense. It was very disjointed and hard to follow, not a consistent storyline. I can't imagine that any child would be able understand it. The best part was probably the recipe in the back of the book.

[stillme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is fine, but the reason Charlotte loves this so much is the recipe for tiny pie by Alice Waters at the end. We made the pies after reading the book and they are AMAZING.

[Amory Blaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book creeped me out. I actively regretted reading it aloud to the girl I take care of.

The pie sounds good, though.

[Taurean Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took forever to get to this one, which is becoming an unintended theme of my reviews as of late, but as I suspected it was worth the wait.


The story begins at a fancy party. Given the choice of either early bedtime or stay and be out of the way, Little Ellie opts to stick around for what she thought would be a fun time. While her parents and the big folks are having fun, Ellie’s not, but soon that would change…


Little Ellie is not only is she not having fun, she’s STARVING! But everyone’s too busy saying Ellie’s “Too Small” to be here, to notice. Before she gives into despair, Ellie notices a hole in the wall, and being the curious gal she is, peaks inside- She discovers the miniature set of the (appropriately named) “Hole in the Wall Kitchen”cooking show, hosted by a mouse chef, and that alone was enough to get me, and while I’ve not yet seen Pixar’s “Ratatouille” (I’m getting to it, okay?) anything involving food or cooking will always spark my interest.



Illustrator Edward Hemingway’s retro-inspired art style is like this love child between colorized “New Yorker” cartoons with the exaggerated facial features of “MAD” (though a lot more tasteful, in my opinion, no pun intended) creating something that feels old and contemporary at the same time. Not an easy feat to achieve.


Plus, the excellent use of rhyming by our miniature culinary friend adds a fun dimension to the story.



“Tiny Pie” is a charming reminder that no matter how small we feel, whether in the figurative or literal sense, nothing worthwhile is out of reach, and sometimes it takes a little gal’s (or guy’s) touch to do BIG things!

-An Abridged Reversion of the original review at TalkingAnimalAddicts.com

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellie the elephant's parents are having a party and have asked her to stay out of the way. But she becomes hungry. She tries to ask her parents for help, but they are too busy with the party. Then she tries to get food for herself, but she is too small. She notices something going on in the mouse hole in the kitchen. She leans down for a peek. She sees a mouse on a television show teaching mice how to make tiny pie. The mice come out into the kitchen for a pie party and to share their tiny pies with Ellie.

The illustrations are created with paint. They are unusual in style and body proportions (large heads on thin bodies). There is a painting on the wall on page two of naked people dancing in a circle.

Although this is a cute concept, I had trouble understanding where the authors were going with the story. What was the central point? The story of Ellie morphs into another sing-songy story about mice making pie on television. Ellie is also a little girl elephant still in diapers and unable to speak which to me means under the age of one. Why is she running around alone? Why does she not have anyone to care for her? This bothered me. The story felt like a jumble of absurdity which I normally love if it comes to some sort of understandable conclusion. The only point I got here was, making pie solves everything. There is a recipe for pie in the back that children will enjoy making after reading the book. Recommended for ages 4-8. I think ages 4-7 would enjoy this the most.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quirky little read. Or maybe it's the cold medicine I'm on? Comes with a recipe in the back that is a bit convoluted and seems like it makes something that more closely resembles a fruit pastie or a tartine than a "tiny pie." My daughter is 8-years-old, and still very literal-minded and she will want to make a TINY PIE, if I bring this book home. After all, that is what they bake in the book; that is what the recipe is called, and that is what is shown in the illustrations, but that confusing mess of a recipe by a famous chef does not seem to promise a real honest-to-goodness PIE!

Good heavens I ranted.

For children, and their time-pressed adults, simplicity is desired, no? Along with spending time together, reading, and lovely apple pies.

[Christine Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Ellie the elephant is the only kid at a grown-up party. No one is paying any attention to poor Ellie, and she can't reach the food! Why must everything be for big people? Then to Ellie's surprise, she discovers a little chef mouse inside a hole in the wall, and he's filming a cooking show! Ellie can see that his sharp senses are key ingredients for a successful tiny pie. Will this be the perfect snack that's just her size? As an added treat, Alice Waters has contributed a delicious tiny apple pie recipe perfect for little hands (and big appetites)!

Subjects


Elephants -- Juvenile fiction


Pies -- Juvenile fiction.


Parties -- Juvenile fiction

[Citra Rizcha Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Entah kamu besar, kecil, pendek, tinggi, kamu akan selalu menemukan makanan yang pas untukmu."

Ceritanya sederhana, tentang Ellie si Gajah kecil yang terjebak di pesta mereka yang dewasa. Ellie kelaparan tapi Mama dan Papa terlalu sibuk untuk mempedulikannya. Hingga Ellie menengok ke dalam lubang dapur dan mereka sedang menayangkan program memasak yang dilakukan para Tikus. Setelah membaca ini, kita pasti ingin membuat Pai Apel Mini. Segala indramu diajak berpetualang di dalam cerita mini ini.

Ilustrasinya sangat indah dan ada resep Pai enak!

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. I love pie and I love tiny pies...so I had high hopes for this book. But...it was more about a little elephant not being big enough to go to a party so she makes little pies with some mice in the kitchen wall. And...the book was okay.

[Jolene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book that portrays little people as important too, which is a good message for children to hear. There is a lot of rime in the book, and the pictures are very cute and shown from a child's perspective.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations in this one, and I like the message that kids shouldn't be so easily dismissed. This didn't really stand out to me, but it's cute.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that empowers children.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started off promising, and then it just got strange. The illustrations were very well done, but the story was worded strangely and just... not thought out well.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weird insert of a mouse cooking show----and a scene later they are EVERYWHERE baking ALL KINDS of tiny Pies...that gave me a creepy vibe. I'm still intrigued---and do want to make a tiny pie.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would now like to make a tiny pie, but these elephants may want to look into some form of mouse control for their kitchen. Yikes. Love the illustrations.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

CCS'd this to see if I wanted to order it for NSCDS... and no. No, no.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry and I read this on 11/19/13. Cute, but just lacking something. Illustrations are redeeming.

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather odd book. Even after a second reading, i am not sure it made complete sense to me. The little elephant girl too is rather odd. An ok book, but not fantastic.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the fun illustrations, and the focus on the 5 senses when making a pie, but the rhyme scheme didn't flow as well as I wanted, and I wanted it to finish up with the big party at the end, too.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations but a rather disjointed story. It didn't seem to transition smoothly from the first scene to the second.

[Jürgen Peeters · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mijn recensie van 'Piepklein taartje' verscheen op MappaLibri

http://mappalibri.be/?navigatieid=61&...

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

the illustrations are lovely

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute concept and fun illustrations but it almost seems like there's a page or two missing from the actual story. It ends up making sense, but takes some assumptions on the reader's part.

[Soraya Nur Aina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buku anak yang halamannya cukup ringkas karena berisi 30an halaman.

Ilustrasinya cantik tapi ceritanya, uhm? Mungkin ya, mungkin moral valuenya bahwa keberadaan anak kecil itu penting dan dianggap di kondisi keluarga apapun.

Kayanya bisa dibacakan buat rentang usia SD. Nanti di akhir ada resep pie yang kalau aku sih yaaaa yaudahlah yaaaaa beli aja.

[kelamnyamalam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Butuh baca berkali-kali sampai lumayan ngeuh sama pesan yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis (actually, i still don't get it to the whole point dengan keseluruhan ceritanya wkwk). Tapi ilustrasinya unik, aku suka lihat ilustrator buku ini memainkan tekstur jadi terlihat semi realis.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

182 - 2022

[Nur Aini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maniss sekalii. Sebagai orang dewasa yg membaca buku anak anak, cerita dan ilustrasinya sangat hangat.

[Kristi Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very cute book.