Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino

Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino

Rating: 5 stars

It's official--we love this Dan Yaccarino guy.  We've only read a fraction of his books, but we are totally hooked.  And if I didn't love him because of his books, I read this neat little interview with him on a cool book blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Yup, we're in love (thanks, Beth, for the recommendation!).

This book is one of my favorites of his, of the 6 books of his we've read so far.  It's a simple, short tale with simple, gorgeous illustrations of a boy and his father's Friday ritual: going to the diner.  The book starts with the father kissing the mother good-bye (it's the best of many great pictures; there's so much going on in the picture that Lorelei and Ben and I take a few minutes to look at it) and follows the boy and his father through three city blocks.  They pass shops, wave to familiar faces, and walk slowly amidst everyone else who is hurrying.  They arrive at their destination: the diner!  Clearly regulars, the waitress asks: "Pancakes?" and gets a nod.  She waves farewell to them and adds, "See you next Friday!"  "Already, I can't wait," the book ends.

The story was inspired by Dan Yaccarino's Friday ritual with his son; the book starts with a nice suggestion to start rituals like this in your family.  So, we took his encouragement and the kids and I "took Daddy to the diner!"  We had a great time, and Lorelei and Ben were amazed at the music at our table and the busy-ness of the joint.  The bacon was the biggest hit (of course!) but the blueberry pancakes were a close second.  But the best part was doing something a little different, and how wonderful that the something a little different didn't involve any cleaning up on my part!