What a discovery of words and images that inspire! I found in this delightful picture book, PIE IS FOR SHARING, a sense of renewed hope in the basic values of who we are and what we care about as a nation. Come join this Fourth of July multi-family picnic. Have a piece of yummy pie – everyone gets a taste for “Pie is for Sharing.” We care about each other, about family and friendships, about climbing trees and skinned knees, and about sharing our abundance with others.
A few years ago, the author, Stephanie Parsley Ledyard, was watching her daughter bite into a scrumptious Minnesota home-made pie. Of course Stephanie asked for a taste, because “pie is for sharing.” And thus began the idea of a picture book about sharing. Not everything is for sharing. It’s hard to share a best friend, the best sitting branch on an apple tree, or the last chocolate chip cookie. But it’s special to share a hug, a song, a lap, a story.
For a peek into the thoughts of the illustrator and author, read the two excerpts below about how this original idea developed. For more insight, read the full interview in the Horn Book. So fun to read!
https://www.hbook.com/2018/05/authors-illustrators/five-questions-stephanie-parsley-ledyard-jason-chin/
Here are my two favorite responses –
Illustrator Jason Chin: I had the idea early on to set the book in a park in Burlington, Vermont, where my family often has picnics with friends. We’re there in the pictures, and most of the other families in the book are close friends of ours. The idea of setting the story on the Fourth of July came later, but when I thought of it, I immediately knew that it was right. I wanted to make a statement that sharing is as American as apple pie (or in this case, cherry pie).
Author Stephanie Parsley Ledyard: I love what Jason did with the setting. I realized only gradually, over a period of months, that this was a July Fourth picnic. My first glimpses of the art were pencil sketches. Then much later, I got to see the full-color art via email. Finally, I printed it out on larger paper and saw all the red-white-and-blue details, and the flag on the house in the beginning, and I got it. (It takes me a while!) The Independence Day aspect has become a powerful part of the book to me — a reminder about the values of basic sharing and community in our country.
Launch date is this month for this picture book, a true slice of apple-pie America at its best. Order your copy of a first edition. You will be glad you did as you share with a young reader the many delicious surprises in Stephanie’s words and Jason’s images.
A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, 2018