Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent

Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-021-5

52 pp.

Ages 5-8

August 2017

Dog is Princess Pistachio’s pooch and Marie-Louise Gay uses her words and pictures to make sure young readers know exactly who he is.  (I can already hear little ones shouting out, "He's just like my dog!")

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

Because Dog's days are filled with sleeping, napping and eating, Pistachio thinks he needs some adventure and excitement to prevent him from dying of boredom.  Dog thinks otherwise.

Dog grunts as he heaves himself up onto his tiny legs.  He waddles to the door.  He looks outside.  He signs, shakes his head, and waddles back to his cushion. (pg.9)

When she hides Dog in her backpack for a trip to school, Pistachio takes him out for Show and Tell but all Dog has to show is his ability to fall asleep promptly on the teacher’s desk.  The kids laugh.

When the Doggone Theater sends out a casting call for a “talented, intelligent, beautiful dog to play a starring role” (pg. 19), Pistachio is sure it’s the perfect job for Dog.  Annoyingly, her best friend Madeline scoffs at the idea.  But, amidst the amazing dog performers, Dog is selected, the perfect pick for the leading role of Sleeping Beauty.  Now with a stage name–Maurice the Magnificent–Dog has the un-boring life of a star.  But with that fame, Pistachio learns, comes a price when Maurice is dognapped.  Fortunately Pistachio finds a way to get Dog back safely and resolve a friendship that was almost lost to jealousy.

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

I'd join others in applauding Maurice the Magnificent's performance but I think we should extend those accolades to Marie-Louise Gay who can do no wrong in her storytelling or illustrating.  Her Stella and Sam books have garnered her many an award and nomination but her Princess Pistachio series (this is Book 3) takes us from the world of imaginative play into the realm of young school children trying to figure out how to get along with others.

Pistachio loves her Dog and just wants him to have a good life, and she's willing to help make that happen.  She's like a mother to him, arranging for play and opportunities and doing anything to get him back when taken.  But she's also smart enough to know when she's beat and it's evident what Dog enjoys doing most of all. And doesn't Marie-Louise Gay make him adorable!  With his patch around the eye, short tail and legs splayed out behind him when he flops down, Dog is every dog that is loved.

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent is a worthy addition to this absolutely marvelously magnificent series that is ever entertaining and endearing!

Princess Pistachio (Pajama Press, 2014)

Princess Pistachio and the Pest (Pajama Press, 2015)

Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent (Pajama Press, 2017)

Princess Pistachio and the Pest

by Marie-Louise Gay

Translated by Jacob Homel

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-73-6

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

For release March, 2015

Pistachio Shoelace may have been disappointed when she learned the true nature of her royal status, or lack thereof, in Princess Pistachio (Pajama Press, 2014) but the little red-haired wonder of Marie-Louise Gay's newest series has unforeseen challenges to address in her second adventure, Princess Pistachio and the Pest.  And we're so delighted to share in it with her.

Waking up from a horrible school dream in which she is humiliated when she can't answer a simple addition problem, Pistachio is thrilled to realize it's the first day of summer vacation.  She's ready for adventures with her friends Madeline and Chichi exploring a local cavern. But "Pistachio's heart falls to her belly button" (pg. 12) when her mother instructs her to take her baby sister Penny to the park.

Dragging a wagon loaded with Penny, a tower of toys and the hidden dog, Pistachio continues to daydream about exploring the cavern and what she might find.  Meanwhile, Penny dressed in her rabbit-ear hat and Superman cape, proclaims herself to be Super-Rabbit and repeatedly demonstrates that her super-powers are of the unorthodox kind: pilfering fruit from Mr. Pomodoro's grocery stand; climbing up on a wall and falling into Mrs. Oldtooth's garden; and scavenging treasure from the park's fountain.  Unfortunately, Pistachio is taken as responsible for Penny's misdeeds.

Courtesy of her baby sister, Pistachio is never bored and, upon returning home, realizes that there are worse ways to spend a day than babysitting Penny.  But, it's Pistachio herself, with her imaginative daydreams to compensate for missed adventures and with her reactive diatribes to unexpected turns of events, who makes the day eventful.  Her fiery temper may share each disappointment but it's her exuberance for life that mitigates any annoyances the readers may have about her exasperation.  After all, it was the first day of summer holidays and Pistachio's mother knew to use her "maple syrup tone" (pg. 12) to attempt to sway her daughter.  I suspect the girls' mother, with her own fiery red
hair and foxy twinkle, knows well enough what Pistachio feels.  And luckily, Pistachio may feel many things–embarrassment, disappointment, irritation, fear, inspiration–but never boredom.  

Again, Marie-Louise Gay takes our Pippi-Longstocking-esque young character and places her in classic childhood scenarios to which Pistachio must adapt.  Babysitting younger brothers and sisters during summer vacation is not uncommon for children.  But by taking Pistachio into a neighbourhood of colourful people, diverse friends, and lively interactions, young readers may find the means to endure, even enjoy, surprises that arise during the crazy, lazy days of summer when anything can happen, as it does in Princess Pistachio and the Pest.

Princess Pistachio

by Marie-Louise Gay

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-69-9

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

For release October, 2014

For the child who is convinced that she is adopted because she has nothing in common with her parents or family who just don't understand her, Princess Pistachio will both charm her and divert her attention from that premise promptly!

Marie-Louise Gay, creator of the ever-popular Stella and Sam series of picture books, introduces Pistachio Shoelace, an orange-haired, freckle-faced moppet, to star in a new series of early readers.  In this first book, Princess Pistachio, Pistachio receives a golden crown in the mail with a card that reads, "Happy birthday, my little princess!" (pg.7)  Believing that it is from her real parents, the king and queen of Papua, an island she'd found on her map, Pistachio is convinced that they have finally found her after she'd been abandoned by a witch at the home of her adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Shoelace. Donning this crowning proof, Pistachio insists that her princess status be recognized.

Regardless of her newly-recognized regal status, Pistachio's life is still grounded in the daily grind of eating her spinach, watching her baby sister Penny and going to school.  And no one seems to pay homage to Princess Pistachio: not her parents, not her best friends, not Penny, and not even the two duelling boys who must be fencing for her honour!  Sadly, a surprising phone call and a errant little sister bring a new reality to Pistachio (even if Penny is still a pest).

Children have always been taken with Marie-Louise Gay's Stella and Sam series of books, by the wonder and wisdom of an older sister and the innocent inquiry of her little brother.  Now, these readers can enjoy Marie-Louise Gay's signature illustrations in the more challenging stories of Pistachio, the girl who is definitely more like a pixie than an angel.  She may still have Stella's dramatic flair but it's wrapped up in a scampish nature that is all Pistachio.

But, what will exalt Princess Pistachio to the upper echelons of early chapter books is the voice that Marie-Louise Gay has given the little girl and the richness of the text in general.  Delightful play with words and challenging vocabulary enriches Princess Pistachio above most early readers.

 "Princess?" Gabriel sniggers. "Even an ugly old toad would want nothing to do with you!"
"To die for a mustachioed pistachi-toad! Ugh!" Jacob cries out.
They run away laughing like monkeys.
"Brutes! Peasants!" Pistachio screams.  "I'll feed you to the lions!" (pg.22)

With a second book, Princess Pistachio and the Pest, already scheduled, I believe that Marie-Louise Gay and Pajama Press have just created an Anne of Green Gables for the very youngest of youngCanLit readers, and one who will poke at our hearts and funny bones alike.