Book Review - Pickle-Ciffon Pie

By: Jolly Roger Bradfield
Published By: Purple House Press
Originally Released: 1967
Source: Library
Age: 4-8
Rating: 4.5 Stars

2 cups imagination
2 teaspoons humor
Exciting illustrations, one per page
At least one dragon
2 tablespoons silliness
Combine: 1 beautiful princess with 1 hero, well seasoned
A pinch of moral value
Mix together in a lively plot

Pickle-Chiffon Pie is a story without a villain. No fighting, no bloodshed, but still exciting and fast-moving. It is a tale that stretches the imagination: the reader must accept a juggling lion (six cans of root beer at once!) and a sixteen-foot Gazoo. Not a hard assignment for a child, but perhaps a bit more difficult for a wordly grown-up.

Take heart, you staid elders. The story has elements running throughout that should appeal to adults as well as children (how 'bout mice that paint in the fashion of Picasso, Matisse, Grant Wood and even Toulouse Lautrec?) because the author knew that if a story IS A REALLY GOOD ONE, parents everywhere would be commanded by their children to read it aloud again and again. And maybe even once more...

How could I have missed reading this enchanting book? Filled with unique colorful illustrations and a delightful tale this book is sure to please young children and their parents.

Originally released in 1967, by the end of the 1990s copies of this out of print book were selling for $80 to $100 on ebay. Purple House Press re-released this book in 2004.

Pickle-Chiffon Pie was a little longer than many of the read-alouds I read to my 4 year old but she sat, listened to and enjoyed this book. If you've never read this classic book do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy.