Jamberry by Bruce Degan

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

Rating: 5 berry good stars

This is a rollicking good rhyme--I feel like I should say that in a fake, Madonna-like British accent. I know that rollicking is a silly word to describe a book or poem, but this book has such a good rhythm to it that Lorelei and Ben choose it again and again and again for me to read out loud. We know the whole thing by heart--well, Lorelei and I can recite it, and word-less Ben grunts along excitedly in his own way.

Here's a little sneak peek if you don't already know and love this book: "Blackberry / Quackberry / Give me a blackberry!" and " One berry / Two berry / Pick me a blueberry / Hatberry / Shoeberry / In my canoeberry."

It is WONDERFUL. Beyond a must-read, it's a must-buy. I put the link to the board book up because this is a wonderful first book, meaning you better buy a near-indestructible board book so your child can go to sleep with it. 

I had to write about this book today not just because we checked it out again but also because this morning, before leaving the kids with their much-adored sitter, Miss Chloe, the three of us made blackberry cobbler. We didn't pick the berries this time, but the recipe looked so easy that I decided to try it. It really was fool-proof and toddler-friendly.  Here's what we did:

1.  I sprayed a 8-inch square baking dish.

2.  Ben and Lorelei helped mix together 2 tablespoons of confecioners' sugar, 2 cups pancake mix, 1 cup whole milk, and 2 large eggs.  Ben shook lots of cinnamon into the batter--we add cinnamon to everything we bake.

3.  We each threw in one half-pint containers of fresh blackberries into the dish (so three in all).

4.  I poured the pancake batter-mix of the stuff on top of it.

5.  I baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Here's the best part--it can be breakfast with milk, or dessert with whip cream or ice cream! Yum. The whole recipe can be found here. Everyone, including Miss Chloe, gave it two thumbs up. Try out the book and the recipe!