Salad Pie

Learning to share and play nicely with other children can be a challenge. In Salad Pie, Maggie finds the playground deserted when she arrives. This, she feels, is the perfect environment for making salad pie. She is not happy when Herbert shows up to help her. However, when her beautiful salad pie takes an unexpected tumble, Herbert is there to save the day, and Maggie realizes that salad pie is even better when shared. Colorful, energetic depictions of the children at play support and illustrate the story's important lesson.

Maggie believes the only way to make salad pie is in the park by herself. There should be no noise and, most importantly, no help. Herbert's appearance makes her grumpy at first, but when she realizes she can't scare him away, she reluctantly allows him to help add a garnish or two to her dandelion, crab apple, and clover salad. When Maggie falls off the slide performing her salad song-and-dance routine, Herbert is there to catch her and the salad. The qualities anyone would want in a friend are clearly visible in Herbert at that moment. The characters in this story are old enough to go to the park by themselves, and they appear to be of different racial backgrounds. Maggie might be considered a loner, but when Herbert impresses her with his imaginative culinary skills, she is willing to change her plans for the day and make a new friend. After reading this book, take a child outside and see what they can invent with the ingredients they find in the yard or on a walk. VERDICT A fine addition to collections in need of imaginative friendship tales.

The park is the perfect place for culinary imagination--and friendship. Maggie's pleased that the park is empty and quiet, perfect for making Salad Pie. Then Herbert appears and asks what she's doing. The park's no longer empty or quiet. Still, she goes ahead with her plan. As Herbert watches, she walks in a wide arc around him, gathering stems of clover, dandelion leaves, some soft crab apples. She mixes them in her floppy hat, then tosses in some wood chips. A few fall out onto the ground, and Herbert scurries to pick them up. He tries to drop them back into the salad, and Maggie grabs his wrist to make sure he doesn't touch. But she accepts the pieces. "Magnificent," she declares, then climbs the slide, up up up and, at the very top, starts to sing and dance. When she loses her footing, she and her Salad Pie take a tumble, but Herbert is there to catch her and all the flying pieces. This time she lets him help. The missteps in BooydeGraaff's tale of budding friendship make it all the more interesting and believable. Langdo's watercolors bring character to the forefront; Maggie has light-brown skin and a wild mop of springy brown hair, while Herbert is a leggy white boy with short brown hair. Warm and winning.