Wilson, Karma. Illustrated by Raul Colon. 2007. How to bake an American pie. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 

With ingredients that are traditionally associated with America, a cat and dog chef combine efforts to “bake an American pie (first ever made on the Fourth of July)”. Beginning with “preheating the world…with a hunger and thirst to be free”, and ending with a “garnish of fifty bright stars”, the ingredients in this American pie include many geographical features also found in America the Beautiful, including a shining sea, fruited plains, amber grains, and waterfalls. Less tangible ingredients that are needed to bake the pie include forgiveness, meekness, courage, and liberty, qualities that make America great and make American pie a one-of-a-kind treat. The pen and watercolor illustrations by Colon include symbols of America such as a melting pot, a pie crust fruited plain, and the statue of liberty. The whimsical illustrations highlight the sweetly sentimental text and provide readers with a recipe that creates the ideal dessert, an ideal country.