It’s time for the end of the month recipe! And a book, of course!
I love breakfast foods any time of day. Because it’s easy, my go-to weekday breakfast is cold cereal, but on the weekends or at a restaurant I love waffles, pancakes, omelets, biscuits, French toast, eggs benedict and whatever else might look interesting.
So I loved this book! Doesn’t everyone want a waffle?
Wood Pecker Wants a Waffle By Steve Breen HarperCollins 2016
Benny the woodpecker wakes to the delicious smell of waffles coming from the grand opening of Moe’s-Home of the Waffle Breakfast. He tries various funny ways to gain entrance into the Moe’s, but they all fail. The animals gather as he is wishing for waffles. They think it’s silly for a woodpecker to eat waffles. But Benny replies, “why not?” At first the animals don’t have an answer, but finally Bunny said, “because I said so.” To which Benny replies, “I really don’t have time for this ‘said so’ nonsense.” Don’t all kids feel that way sometimes! Benny shares an elaborate plan to get the waffles involving, cannons, juggling and fireworks. But when the animals show up at Moe’s to see Benny in action he isn’t there. Or is he? When the people in the dinner come out to see the animals, Benny sneaks in and finds some “sweet” waffles!
April is National Humor Month so a trip to the library and I found a few books to share. Humor in kids’ books can be the in-your-face laugh-out-loud kind or more subtle. It can be a dance between the pictures and the words as they contradict each other or used to soften the blow of more serious moments in the book. Here’s a few I liked.
Snail Crossing
Written & Illustrated by Corey R. Tabor Balzer & Bray, HarperCollins 2020
Snail spies a luscious cabbage patch, but he needs to cross the road to get to it. His attempt is not without adventure. He saves some ants from the rain by inviting them into his shell home. We only see dark and eyes until “click” and the home is the wondrous snail home I’d love to crawl into. In his attempt to evade a crow he gets turned around and ends up back where he started. In the end kindness pays off as he sees a head of cabbage coming toward him across the road, carried by-the ants, of course! The illustrations were warm and inviting and showed the world from Snail’s perspective. One of the things I love about picture books is that the vocabulary can be rich as an adult is present to help explain unknown words. Snail was full of wonderful words like ponder, grumbling, antsy, evasive maneuvers and had a lesson in persistence and kindness.
Book’s Big Adventure
Written by Adam Lehrhaupt, Illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021
Book is brand new. He finds himself on the best shelf in the library where he is sought after and taken on many adventures. In time his newness wears off, his cover fades and he is moved to less and less prominent shelves and has fewer adventures. He is lonely and ignored for new fancier books. Eventually he falls under a shelf and loses hope, but he is found and put in a box of books that are donated. Book is loved again and goes on new adventures. The text is simple with much shown in the inviting illustrations that show diversity of people and communities. The feelings Book is experiencing are perfectly depicted by just two eyes and a mouth. It is a heartwarming story that helps the reader experience sadness, empathy, hope and joy. Bonus-the author included information on where to donate books so they aren’t forgotten. After all, a book’s purpose is not to live in a box, but to share adventures with readers!
We Found a Hat
Written & Illustrated by Jon Klassen Candlewick Press 2016
This is a story in three parts told with simple text and illustrations. Klassen is a master at dry humor while showing honest emotions. Part 1: two turtles find a hat and decide it looks good on both of them. Since it is not right for only one to have it they decide to leave it. It is made clear one turtle still covets the hat. Part 2: they watch the sunset and one turtle thinks about the sunset and the other is still thinking about the hat but doesn’t share that. Part 3: they are going to sleep. The turtle that wants the hat is trying to confirm that the other turtle is sleeping so he can go get the hat, but when he finds out the other turtle is dreaming about them both have a hat he goes to sleep too and dreams they both have a hat. A lot is packed in a simple story that leads to discussions of sharing, making good decisions and thinking of others.
How to Catch a Clover Thief
Written & Illustrated by Elise Parsley Little Brown & Company, Hachette Book Group, 2021
A boar named Roy finds and claims a clover patch. His neighbor Jarvis, a gopher, quietly steals the clover while distraction Roy with various books-a clover recipes cookbook, a book about camping and one on aerospace engineering. Roy finally realizes Jarvis has tricked him and he goes to the library where he reads and looks up words. Later we see Jarvis tunneling under to get to Roy’s clover but Roy has built a machine (Rube Goldberg style) that shoots Jarvis to the sky on a rocket. And Roy is seen holding a book, How to Catch a Clover Thief. The full-page illustrations and expressive faces are a great example of how the illustrations tell the story with the words. The story shows ingenuity, that you can find answers and solutions in books, and is very funny.
Wood Pecker Wants a Waffle
Making Magic with Words 