The most recommended books about pizza

In this issue of the extremely funny series Pizza and Taco, they team up with two more friends, Hotdog and Hamburger to make a rock band. Lots of jokes are peppered in with the struggles of writing songs and learning to work together! This is a great series for kids in the 1st and 2nd grade reading level.

The art is fun and the graphic novel has simple layouts that makes it easy for kids to follow the action. There are some really cute band jokes right in the beginning that may go over children’s heads like “Food Fighters” and “Jam Jett”, but are still funny names.

What’s great about comics like this is that it gets kids reading and caters to an ADHD brain. Short sentences and a fast-moving plot are a great device to engage young children.

I believe 2 things without a shred of doubt: all humans are creative and anyone can cook. Samin Nosrat adds the critical finale: “…and make it delicious.”

Everyone can benefit from this book, especially those who appreciate good, well-executed dishes but don’t quite understand what makes them so irresistible. As someone who didn’t do much better than fail at high school and college science, Nosrat makes incredibly complex concepts simple and doable! Not to mention, it’s delightfully illustrated.

The infographics, tables, and flowcharts make the content engaging and accessible. It is a cookbook, indispensable kitchen reference, and testament to the power of creative collaboration. Here is evidence that cooking is an art and a science. 

Best buddies Pizza and Taco start out bored, but this book is anything boring! After several goofy ideas fail, the friends come up with a great one: throw a party! Of course, their plans go awry, including the sign mistakenly announcing a "Farty" instead of a "Party".  After reading this book, kids may not be able to look at a slice or a taco again without laughing.

The Glorkian Warriors Delivers a Pizza is a great book for early readers. There isn’t a complicated plot, instead, it’s so jam-packed with wonderful nonsense and silly jokes that it’s as fun to read to your kids as it is to see them read it themselves. I also love buddy comedies, and the Glorkian Warrior’s banter with his backpack is a delight. 

Written 35 years ago by a UCLA professor and a Bangkok-born female chef who owned a highly lauded restaurant near LA, this photo-less book explains Thai cuisine well, as well as the culture of food in Thailand, and its recipes never miss the mark and generally are short. This book is in no small part responsible for the success of Veggie Planet, a pizza restaurant I owned in Harvard Square, Cambridge, for 6 years. One of the most popular pizzas was called “Red Curry” pizza and was layered with coconut rice, broccoli, pan-fried tofu, and this book’s Red Curry Peanut Sauce. Never again will you use a curry sauce from a can. It’s been through 9 printings, and you’ll have to buy a used copy.

Steve’s headshot is still hanging in both off-the-beaten path and famous restaurants in Chicago having been known as the “Hungry Hound” when he was the premier food reporter for ABC/Channel 7.

He’s now with Channel 5, and he continues to report on lesser-known restaurants and chefs in the city. In fact, he’s made people famous just by his endorsements! That’s why I love his focus on tavern-style pizza. That’s much less talked about than deep dish so there’s lots to learn by this book! 

This book says “ages 8 - 12” in small type on the back. That is a horrible lie of marketing. It should say, “mandatory: childlike sense of whimsy.”

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris is a graphic novel approximately 300 pages long. It’s about a cosmic crisis on the moon caused by intergalactic rats, led by a three-headed king—although one of the heads is a bit dim. Brace yourself for giants, a moon queen, pirates, an angry Sphinx, robot showdowns, running gags, and an evil computer who just wants to be a part of the narrative.

It was the most delightful book that I bought this year. Read it aloud to someone who’ll appreciate it.

I love everything A.S. King. She is my absolute favorite YA author. Her books are weird and thoughtful, and they stick in my head forever. Her award-winning Please Ignore Very Dietz is no different. Vera’s (former!) best friend Charlie has died. While she’s struggling with family stuff, and drinking stuff, and working at pizza place stuff, she’s being haunted by Charlie’s ghost who insists she tells the police what she knows. The story itself is quirky, and Vera’s narration is clever. And, then, of course, there’s a twist at the end! 

There are times when having food allergies causes you to feel different. Left out. Why wouldn’t it? Your friends are happily eating pizza, cookies, and PB&J sandwiches and you can’t. So when you hear about other kids with food allergies living their best life, it can make you feel less alone. Kai is himself a food-allergic kid, and he wrote this book for children and their families to help them understand their allergies a little better and start the process of taking care of their condition. A good companion to other tools you might give a child with food allergies. 

I know, I know, this one isn’t a “story” book, but it IS a picture book! In fact, it’s the first recipe-in-picture book my family has come across. Accessible, even to our toddler, this inviting book has big, bright pictures so the pre-readers in your family can fully participate in kitchen adventures.

Our favorite recipe in this one? It’s hard to pick, but the very first one is a go-to because the easy-peasy Froothie is a win for our smoothie-loving household!