ALA Booklist (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

Pizza and Taco are the ultimate best-besties nishing each other's sentences, sharing a love of super-awesome waterslides, doing cool best-friend dances t when Taco declares that Pizza is the best, Pizza stead of returning the compliment rees! Thus begins a fierce but friendly contest to determine who is actually best. After a vote ends in a one-to-one tie and a waterslide competition leaves the winner undetermined, their exploration of "the true meaning of being best" leads each to recognize the best in the other. This book's hilarity is rooted in the charming design of its characters: Shaskan fills bold outlines with photographic images of sauce and cheese (for Pizza) and ground beef (for Taco), using round eyes, curving mouths, and stick limbs to produce surprisingly emotive and endearing interactions. The visual comedy is matched by the absurd storyline, which is littered with smaller laughs as the pair cycles between mutual adoration and intense rivalry. Straightforward paneling and simple dialogue make this a perfect choice for early readers beginning their climb to Dog Man.

Kirkus Reviews

Anthropomorphic foodstuffs campaign for their own excellence.Shaskan goes for the goofy with this graphic-early-reader series opener. Each of the book's five chapters revolves around Pizza and Taco, who are such "BEST-BESTIES!!!" that they finish each other's sentences. One day, the friends-who are literally a slice of cheese pizza and a beef taco-come to a stalemate over who is the best. They ultimately put it to a vote, but Pizza-aka "Cheaty McCheato"-deliberately misreads the ballot. They bring in another set of BFFs, Hot Dog and Hamburger, to settle things once and for all. But what does being "the best" mean anyway? Does it have anything to do with fist bumps or butt bumps? If so, Pizza and Taco are solid. Though appropriately repetitive, the plot packs a contagiously zany sense of humor that pairs well with series like Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss' Noodleheads and Ben Clanton's Narwhal and Jelly. Shaskan's distinctive character design combines cartoon illustration with photography, augmenting the humor. Recycled catchphrases like "AWESOME!" and "YAAAS" keep the lightness going-although the pair's constant dismissal of Hamburger is a little disconcerting. The sparse backgrounds-most often a blue polka-dot sky set above simple shapes-help make the white speech bubbles readable. The well-paced, easy-to-follow structure keeps the panel count at six or fewer per page.YAAAS! This lunch bunch serves pure silliness. (Graphic early reader. 5-8)

School Library Journal (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

K-Gr 2 Pizza or Taco? That is the question. Pizza and Taco's friendship is put to the test when they disagree over who is the best. Their competition soon turns political, and the two must find voters (Hot Dog and Hamburger), campaign, debate, and ultimately hold a fair and balanced election to determine the winner. Colorful and simple comic illustrations were created by adding line-drawn eyes, legs, and arms to Photoshopped pictures of actual food. The clear, distinct text is placed on a white background and consists of easy-to-pronounce words and phrases. Context clues are doled out through the illustrations and help readers make logical conclusions about the plot. The message of enfranchisement and political grandstanding can be given as much weight as parents and caregivers wish. Several jokes are aimed at an adult audience but don't detract from the story. There's plenty of gross-out humor for kids. Readers will relate to the joy and frustration of friendly competition, and the hilarity of watching an animated taco and slice of pizza do their best-friends dance is not to be missed. VERDICT A delightful graphic novel for young readers.Laken Hottle, Providence Community Lib.