“All for Pie, Pie for All” by David Martin

Am I the only one whose first thought about Thanksgiving
coming up is “Pie! Yessss!” I like the Thanksgiving Day
parade, and relatives coming over is good, but I’m a
vegetarian, so I’m not into turkey. Nope, pie is #1 on the
list, folllowed by sweet potatoes. Okay, I’m getting
hungry, so I should start talking about the story.

I would love this story even without the adorable
illustrations by Valeri Gorbachev, who has also written
some wonderful books. It’s a sweet (ha ha) and simple
story that young children can follow easily.

They’re engaged right off the bat, because who
doesn’t like pie? And it’s homemade Grandma pie! – 
even if the grandma is Grandma Cat. The cats eat the
pie and then settle down for a nap. Then the mouse
family has a lovely meal on the crumbs. Then the 
ant family… but I don’t want to spoil the surprise!

To “music” it up, I add a refrain:

Little Brother Cat ate a piece (Yum! Yum! Yum!)
                  (rub tummy while saying this)
Big Sister Cat ate a piece (Yum! Yum! Yum!)
(etc.)

You may sing the “Yums” to a tune, or just chant
them rhythmically.

To add a little math to the story, you could have the
children count how many there are in each family.

To add more language skills, you could ask children
what their favorite kind of pie is.

By then you’ll really need to go home and eat some
pie!!