A raccoon steals a pizza -- not good -- but, to be fair, he doesn't have a wallet, and he's chased away because of it. The idea of secrets and being secretive is here as well but not in a negative, deceptive way -- yup, secret handshakes and staircases are pretty cool.
Positive Role Models
a little
Raccoon is just an animal obsessed with, to a hilarious degree, obtaining pizza.
Educational Value
very little
Whenever a book is this silly, you can always step back and ask kids what's real, what could really happen (a raccoon chased by brooms?), what couldn't (a raccoon dialing the phone, in disguise), and how some of the silly things (such as the "Raccoon Wanted" sign) relate to real things they may not know about.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this is another hilarious book from the team who brought you Dragons Love Tacos: author Adam Rubin and illustrator Daniel Salmieri. Here the addictive food of choice is pizza, and an obsessed raccoon will do anything to get it -- including stealing. But, hey, raccoons don't have wallets! He's always chased away by angry-looking people with brooms and sometimes by "raccoon-sniffing broom-bots." This is the kind of silly read-aloud that will really engage kids.
I would not buy this book for your child! I read over it and was disgusted. It encourages children to keep secrets and from their parents and go places in secret.
In this book it follows a Raccoon that is wanted and has a bad reputation. He takes the child on an adventure with him to eat pizza in secret and warns the child to never tell his parents as they will beat him with a broom. Including bringing him to the woods, telling the child not to tell any adults who he is or where he lives as they'll beat him with a broom and taking the chikd to his bedroom while locking the door where he turns off the light and tells the child to whisper so they will not be heard.
What's the Story?
All Raccoon wants is some pizza -- no, lots of pizza, all the time. He's so infamous for his quest that a wanted sign hangs in the local pizza parlor. When the narrator suggests that he have a pizza party at his house that night -- a SECRET PIZZA PARTY -- the shenanigans begin and the brooms start flying.
The storytelling doesn't flow as well as in Dragons Love Tacos, but Secret Pizza Party is still as irresistible as a pie with your favorite toppings. The delicious language -- "sweet sassy molassy!" and "hot diggidy dog!" -- makes this a great read-aloud. The detailed illustrations by Daniel Salmieri add to the silliness: Raccoon, surrounded by masked pizza partiers, simply holds a stick on the side of his already masked face -- genius. Expect this fun book to make kids insist on complete darkness and hushed voices on your next family pizza night. Shhhh!
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about -- no, whisper about -- secrets. What secrets are fun? How do you keep a secret -- just by being quiet? Or is there more to it? When are secrets not so good?
Turn each page of the book together and play the "That's silly" game. What's silly? What could be real? Can a raccoon dial a phone? Is there such a thing as a Broom Enthusiasts Club?
Do you have a secret handshake? Can you make up a family secret handshake? How silly can you make it?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
