Siggy's Spaghetti Works

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This field trip to Siggy's pasta factory introduces readers to the manufacture of pasta secca-the dried, commercially made variety. The factory's capacity to make 100 tons of spaghetti per day is impressive, as is the variety of shapes made from just flour and water. The history of pasta in Italy will intrigue young readers, as will a sidebar on the manufacture of Chinese noodles. Watercolor and pen drawings make this informational book attractive, although it has neither the simplicity of Gail Gibbons's books nor the seamless integration of fantasy and fact that make the "Magic Schoolbus" series (Scholastic) so popular. (However, Miss Frizzle would be quite at home with the layout and with the easily digested information.) A playful introduction to one of the world's oldest foods.
Anna Biagioni Hart, Sherwood Regional Library, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 6-8. Seven kids tour a spaghetti factory, where they learn first-hand about the making of pasta. Like the Magic School Bus books in format, this picture book slides between fiction and nonfiction, with its narrative text, sidebars, and lots of facts supplied by the "teacher" combined with some weak humor in the cartoon-style balloons carrying the kids' remarks. While less successful than the popular Magic Bus series, this book will probably entice kids to learn more than they ever would have thought they wanted to know about spaghetti factories. The line-and-wash illustrations are bright and lively, while the text is informative. Pair it with Machotka's photo-essay Pasta Factory (1992). Carolyn Phelan