More Pies!

Today the National Pie Baking Championships are being held in Orlando, Florida.  I thought of the Robert Munsch Book More Pies! which my son Thomas used as his story for a storytelling session in Grade 3.  I remember him getting props from Jacqueline's toy kitchen like a plastic chicken drumstick.  He took three paper plates and drew the faces of the lumberjack, firefighter and construction worker, attaching popsicle sticks to the plates to hold them.  He was ready for his presentation. 

Robert Munsch came up with the idea for More Pies! from a fan named Samuel who wrote him a letter and then became the main character in one of his books.  The first words out of Samuel's mouth are "I am still hungry" even though his Mom has just served him breakfast.  He goes on to request a salad bowl full of cereal, four milkshakes, four stacks of pancakes and fried chicken.  After consuming all of the above, Samuel is still hungry.  His Mom sends him outside, saying he is to eat nothing until lunch. 

Samuel hops the bus downtown to Vancouver's Stanley Park where he discovers a pie eating contest is about to start.  With hefty competition, a firefighter, a lumberjack and a construction worker, Samuel digs in to his first pie:  Chuka -- Chuka -- Chuka -- CHOMP!!!  He proceeds to devour several pies and eats the three burly men under the table, winning the competition. 

He rolls himself home where he finds his mother in the kitchen baking pies!  He can't eat another bite...but his younger brother is ready and willing.

More Pies! is one of my favourite Robert Munsch books.  Michael Martchenko's illustrations have vibrant colours.  The backdrop of Stanley Park, which Rob and I strolled through on our honeymoon, is beautiful.  And the plot is so easy to follow; and yet adults can appreciate it too. 

Thomas, who re-enacted the story of More Pies! five years ago, is now a strapping young man.  He has a bottomless pit of a stomach like Samuel.  He might very well be able to eat those hefty men under the table. 

For National Pie Championships' recipes visit:
http://www.piecouncil.org/Recipes/ViewRecipe/?id=168

Image courtesy www.scholastic.ca.