Shhhhh! Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

AH, PIZZA!

...THE GOOEY CHEESY-NESS, SALTY-PEPPERONI-NESS, SWEET SWEET TOMATO-NESS, AND OF COURSE THE CRISPITY CRUCHITY CRUST!

Who wouldn't want some?

But Raccoon has an identity problem. The Pizza Man has him made as a perp--a pizza purloiner. Raccoon has a rep as the shoplifter who has tried to make off with a nice hot pizza pie way too many times, but he has never escaped Pizza Man's broom.

Even his persona is suspicious. In his perpetual black mask and gloved paws, trench coat, and slouch hat, Raccoon looks the part of a crook. One glimpse of his furtive face peering through the steamy plate glass window the the pizza shop is all it takes to mount a posse of pizza makers and the chase is on. He's a known pizza-thief, and his mug is on a wanted poster which hangs over the oven in Pizza Man's Pizzeria.

But Raccoon doesn't give up. He sticks to his purpose. And he has a plan.

He invites some pizza-preferring cohorts to the party of the year--A SECRET PIZZA PARTY.

WHEN YOU MAKE SOMETHING SECRET, YOU MAKE IT SPECIAL.

There's plenty of lurking and skulking, plotting and planning, in store for young pizza fanciers before Raccoon gets his greedy little hands on even one slice, in Adam Rubin's Secret Pizza Party (Dial Books). Along with nefarious plotting and near-miss chases, Raccoon's party is the talk of the town. Daniel Salieri's inspired illustrations--done up in all the colors of pizza and the dark of night do the heavy lifting in telling this wacky story of a nocturnal foodie with just one thing on his mind. "This screwball of a story will leave readers hankering for a slice," says Kirkus Reviews.

Rubin and Salieri are also the creators who dish up another sumptiously spicy and comic story of kids' favorite fare in Dragons Love Tacos. (read review here)