PIZZA AT SALLY’S

Wellington likes to write and draw people at work: bakers, firefighters, farmers. Here she follows a day in a pizza-maker’s life. The quiet, almost subversive, didacticism is counter-balanced by an emphatic use of color in the artwork. Scattered throughout the gouache paintings are photographs of tomatoes, cheese labels, onions and a good old pizza pie. Though not overburdened with details, the text is here to impart information such as the use of ingredients, the steps in making a pizza and how Sally runs her shop. Best of all is the underlying message: Sally loves her work. She wears a great big grin. So does her helpful cat companion, and so do the kids who are shoveling a slice down their gullets, happy as little birds in Sally’s nest. Good pizza is tailor made to bring out a smile, and Wellington gets that zestful pleasure just right. (Picture book. 3-6)