Paulie Pastrami Achieves World Peace
Grade 1–3—How does a seven-year-old who has not yet mastered whistling achieve world peace? He begins with the easy stuff and works his way up. First, Paulie starts "being kind to small animals. Then bigger animals. And bigger. And bigger still." Then he apologizes to his sister. At school, he is nice to everyone, even the principal, and hands out cupcakes to help resolve conflicts. Having established peace at home and at school, he is ready to expand his horizons. With the help of his family he goes on a "world tour" around town with a van full of cupcakes to distribute to appreciative crowds. Although world peace is a serious issue, Proimos's tongue-in-cheek approach makes the "can do" message fun and child friendly. The text is short and snappy with only one or two sentences on most pages. The simple cartoon drawings, filled in with color, have attitude and personality that matches the tone of the text. Creative page layouts and artsy fonts give the illustrations added energy. This is a great read-aloud, especially for a unit about social issues or character development.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UTCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.