26th February Pistachio Day

Pistachio Day celebrates the popular nut, which are native to the Middle East. The largest producer of pistachio nuts today is Iran but they are also grown in other areas, including California and Mediterranean Europe. The Chinese are the greatest consumers of the nut. It is thought that pistachio nuts have been eaten by humans for at least 9000 years.

Pistachio nuts are not something that is popular in the plots of children's books and other than The Pistachio Prescription, the well-known novel about Cassie who felt better when she ate these nuts by Paula Danziger any others really aren't worth recommending.

However there are three little books for those readers just starting on chapters that are popular in my library and they have the word pistachio in their titles. All three are about Princess Pistachio, her pesty baby sister Penny and her dog. They were originally published in French, are written and beautifully illustrated in colour by Canadian Marie-Louise Gay and have been translated into English by her son, Jacob Homel.

No pistachio nuts here, but fun for beginning readers. There are:
• Princess Pistachio
• Princess Pistachio and the Pest, and
• Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent.