Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

Rating:
Summary: MIRTH AND A MORAL
Review: Few can match author/artist Tomie DePaola's gift for combining mirth and a moral to create an enchanting story for young readers. He has focused on the lives of saints in the past and he does so once more in this imagined tale of Pascual, the patron saint of cooks and the kitchen.

Beginning with Pascual's birth when angels sang his mother and father regarded their son with both pride and awe. At first, his father thought the boy might grow up to be a shepherd because of the tender care he took of sheep. But when he reached young manhood Pascual announced that he wanted "to be a friar and help feed people who are hungry."

So, his parents sent him to the monastery of Saint Francis. Imagine Pascual's surprise when the friars asked him to prepare dinner. Why, he didn't even know how to boil water! One thing Pascual did know how to do was pray. Amazing things began to happen when Pascual closed his eyes and knelt on the kitchen floor.

Young readers will relate to Pascual and to the cheery art panels that bring the tale to life.

- Gail Cooke