Little Nino's Pizzeria

Written and Illustrated by Karen Barbour

Key Scriptures:
· Romans 12:6-8 NIV -- We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
· Ephesians 6:7-8 NIV -- Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

Who doesn't like pizza? Hearty crust, spicy tomato sauce, meat and/or veggie toppings, and strings of mozzarella cheese - what is not to like? And when you consider that olive oil is often used as well, pizza can very easily include items from all the food groups. What a fun way to introduce the basic food groups (and the recommendations for daily servings from each of the groups)! We certainly enjoyed this aspect of our visit with Tony and Nino. And we also had fun with the family project of making mozzarella cheese and then using it in various dishes! As the children are also very taken with The Storykeepers Series of Books and videos (that feature as main characters, a baker and his wife), they regularly have fun dressing up in their "baking clothes." Our cheese-making activity was yet another opportunity for them to do so.

We also had lots of fun doing various types of "pizza math" - introducing/reinforcing the idea of basic fractions and how applicable they are in everyday life. We modified a "pie" activity that I found in a math activity book and had fun watching portions of our paper plate pizza disappear as we pretended that various family members had eaten their share. We also saw how various numbers (represented by different pizza toppings) could be equally divided into groups and how many pieces of each topping would be found on different sized pieces of pizza. This will definitely be a tool that we'll use more extensively when it is time to study fractions in earnest!

We saw examples throughout the story of how Tony had the gift of serving others and how he did it wholeheartedly. We also saw how sad it made him when he was unable to use his giftedness as he always had. We related this to how we are to use the giftings that God gives us for His glory and to serve others. We also talked about doing our work diligently and wholeheartedly, even when it is not glamorous work (Tony didn't mind clearing dirty dishes). We also discussed how Nino's priorities changed throughout the story and how he and his whole family were much happier when he was doing what he did best - make pizza! The decisions that we make can have a big effect on those around us.

We read about how our modern pizza originated in Italy, but became popular in the United States after American soldiers who had been in Europe returned with stories of the yummy dish they'd experienced overseas. And although several cities in the U.S. are famous for their pizza's, we placed our story disk on Chicago.

The kids enjoyed the various other books that we read about pizza, many of which were quite humorous and contained plays on words. We had fun reviewing homonyms and the kids grew a great deal in their enjoyment of jokes and riddles and other word-play. They both love to try to make up jokes, although at this point usually aren't too terribly successful. However, they enjoy laughing at each other's attempts!

The artwork in this book is extremely rich both in color and detail and provoked a lot of discussion. Claire noticed the dollar signs all over the rich man's suit and after we discussed why they might be there, it was rare for us to read the book without one or both of the kids mentioning them. We also discussed how Ms. Barbour used the posture of various characters to reinforce/represent emotions. They particularly enjoyed how the expressions and movement of the animals in the story mirrored those of the human characters. The diversity of people and occupations was also great for discussion.