Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio

Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Eric Wight
Farrah Straus Giroux

Rating: 5 stars

Yes, indeed. Everyone LOVES bacon in this house! For that reason, and because this is a very funny book, Everyone Loves Bacon was a hit at our house.

Synopsis: Bacon is a total hot-shot, look-at-me kinda guy who gets the attention of everyone around him. Pancake wants to sit next to him, Egg thinks he smells soooooo good, Hot Dog thinks he's the best. You get the idea. After all the adoration-filled pages on the counter of the diner, there's a shot of lowly lettuce, tomato, and avocado looking glum in the bare refrigerator. They miss their old friend.

Bacon quips, "Who needs friends when you've got fans?"

We were smitten from page one.

He's on to bigger and better things! He was the toast of the town! Until...

(spoiler alert)

...CRUNCH!

He got eaten.

Ha! My kids and I didn't see it coming and laughed like crazy at the last page, at the empty plate that once had haughty Bacon lounging on it.

So funny, very original, and makes me want to eat bacon.


P.S. To my step-sister: My respectful apologies to you. I will not get your children this book because you might remember how great bacon is, and give up your vegetarian-ness forever. :)

Gazpacho for Nacho by Tracey Kyle

Gazpacho for Nacho by Tracey Kyle, illustrated by Carolina Farías
Two Lions

Rating: 4 stars

Nacho is going through a phase. A picky phase. He refuses--albeit politely, without a single "YUCK" or "NO WAY"--to eat anything but gazpacho. His mami is the real hero of the story, I think. She takes the time and energy to cheerfully and continually introduce a healthy variety of foodstuffs to her child's stomach. But Nacho just wants gazpacho.

The heroic, endlessly patient Mami finally tries a different path to variety. She still has a smile on as she walks Nacho to the grocery store to teach Nacho how to cook his beloved gazpacho. Together, they shop for the ingredients, return home, and cook. At the end of the book, Nacho realizes how fun it is to cook and asks his mother to call him "Chef Nacho" from now on. And not only will he start to try new things, he'll make them himself!

Lastly, she drizzled a very small drop
of oil and vinegar over the top.
She blended the soup in a big batidora
and left it to chill in the fridge for one hora.

Kyle mixes a whole lot of Spanish into this book, and I'm impressed with her ability to rhyme not with just one language but two. The fact that my kids have little knowledge of Spanish left them asking "What does that mean?" at every other line. However, by the third or fourth read, their questions slowed and they knew more words. It was worth stumbling those first few times.

The illustrations by Carolina Farías are warm and inviting. All of the images of a mother and her son are really sweet--I sound like a gripey, tired mom (hmmm...am I one?) when I say that it's mighty handy that Nacho is an only child. Or maybe his siblings are on an extended playdate so that Mami and Nacho can have this uninterrupted time together? Regardless, for me the illustrations remind me how sweet the time with just one child can be, and to savor that time when it happens on the pages of my own life.

As a mom who loves to cook and read with kids, this book really touched my heart. If only my kids liked soup (and it wasn't below freezing outside--an unbelievable eleven degrees as I type this!), I'd make the recipe for gazpacho in the end of the book!

Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors by Keith Baker

Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors by Keith Baker

Rating: 5 stars

I think that Keith Baker's (wonderful) mission is to increase our children's attention span, one book at a time.  Or one book-sitting at a time.  I've been a fan of his peas book since LMNO Peas came out over four years ago. In that book, huge illustrations with a million peas doing a million different, funny things completely won me and my kids over.

This book is different only because there is one more kid around me to win over, and…well, Kiefer loves Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors just as much as the first one, which we check out every other month, easily.  Only Kiefer wishes that the whole book would be in orange.  (I am trying to explain to him how that would defeat the purpose of having a book on colors…)

Much to Kiefer's chagrin, each color gets two giant double-page spreads dedicated to it.  On the first page is the color, spelled out in enormous letters, with peas all around it, doing neat things.  Turn the page and you get a scene with that color as the main focus, with even more peas doing even more neat things.  There is so much to absorb…that's where the increased attention span comes in.

Wait until you see what Green grows into...

If you're familiar with his two previous books involving a whole lot of peas, you won't be surprised that the text is perfectly sparse, rhymes nicely, and is really just the lead-in to his bright, colorful, and incredibly detailed illustrations of peas doing…well, a little bit of everything.   Kiefer is learning the alphabet, so the huge letters that spell out each color are wonderful additions for his age group (he's three).  My kids could spend five minutes on each page, sitting together to point out the obvious (they're good at that), what each pea is doing, but also to choose which pea they'd be if they could jump into the book.

(I'll be the sun-bathing pea, please…)

This is a wonderful, wonderful book.  My only question that I have: is there a ladybug on each scene, hidden, for kids to find?  We looked at this book at a bookstore, and I am annoyed I didn't remember to look.  And, I'm curious… I'm hoping the answer is yes, because that little addition of a ladybug hunt was such a delightful addition to the last two books…!

The Case of the Missing Donut by Alison McGhee

The Case of the Missing Donut by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Isabel Roxas

Rating: 5 stars

Sheriff had a mission.  A simple mission, really: Bring home a dozen donuts. The sheriff and his deputy dog took this mission very seriously, trying to keep the box flat so not one donut would be squished or squashed, flipped or flopped.

On the walk home, the sheriff felt obligated to check out the safety of the donuts.  So he peeked at them.  One--it just happened to be the powdered sugared one, the one he most wanted to taste in his sheriff-mouth--seemed to be a little bit squished.  So he took a little bite, to even it out.  But when he takes one bite, stopping is impossible. Soon, that powdered sugar wonderful-ness was gone.  Gone!

It was such a mystery!  (Or, at least that's what the sheriff told the deputy, to keep from looking guilty.)

Yet, as the sheriff continued to walk home, on a walk that was obviously familiar because everyone knew him, it seemed that everyone knew the true whereabouts of the donut.  Somehow, they just KNEW!

But wait a minute.
Was that one smushed?
Yes, it certainly was.

The barber, Mrs. Flaherty, his friend Kareem…they all asked how much he liked the donut.  And then, when he got home, his mom and dad were looking at him sorta funny.  DID THEY KNOW TOO?!

When they opened the box and saw only eleven donuts, his mom and dad asked: "Sheriff, would you happen to have any information about this case?"

The sheriff gulped nervously, then told the truth.  Curious, he asked how his parents knew.  The answer involved one mirror and, in case you hadn't guessed, one very powdered face.

All three of my kids got into this witty, well-told little mystery.  Once again, when they know something that the character in the book doesn't realize or see for himself, hilarity is sure to kick in, and some silly sort of uproarious laughter is sure to be heard.

And now--get this--they all want to go to Grand-Dad's house, because that is pretty much the only place they get donuts. See you soon, Grand-Dad!

Go, Go, Grapes! by April Pulley Sayre

Go, Go, Grapes!: A Fruit Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Rating: 5 stars

The other night the kids and I spent the night at Grammy's house in Winchester; the next morning after a not-so-good-night's-sleep (but who remembers the nights when they get enough sleep?!) we drove to the charming old town of Winchester to a cute little independent book store called Winchester Book Gallery.  Grammy had been there once before, loved it, but thought that there wasn't a children's section.  A quick review of the store on Yelp revealed she was wrong!  (It was the first time in her whole life, I'm sure.)  Not only was there a children's section, but it was in a LOFT that overlooked the rest of the store!  We had to check it out.

Kiefer looks down from the lofty children's section.

It was awesome!  Always a fan of quirky book stores, I am a fan of this one.  And glad that I'll be going back frequently when we visit Grammy (and GrandBill, too).  Plus the local mega-chain bookstore in our area just closed, so the kids and I are blown away by all the new books that have come out since the last time we were in a bookstore.  So...I was a pushover when Lorelei asked if she and Ben and Kiefer could each choose a new book.  YES!

Anyway, they each made solid selections (I MIGHT have chosen Kiefer's for him and you MIGHT be reading about it sometime soon), and though I tried to get Lorelei to choose Go, Go, Grapes!: A Fruit Chant, she chose a girly tea-party-themed book.  Sigh.

I was super excited to see the sequel to Rah Rah Radishes, a book we've checked out a dozen times and recommended to dozens of friends.  (That'd be all of them.)   The illustrations are huge, bright, inviting photographs sure to inspire a few "What sort of fruit is that?!"  Like Rah Rah Radishes, this book is a fun, rhyming chant full of familiar and exotic fruits that is sure to get your kids to try at least one new fruit.  Here's a little example:

Canteloupe. Watermelon.  Mind that rind!
Figs are fabulous.  Currants call.
Mango.  Mangosteen.
Chomp, chomp, chomp!
Grapefruit.  Dragon fruit.
What a find!
Glum?  Go plum!
Or apricot!
Try a papaya.
Rambutan--romp!

(Please leave a comment if you've tried a mangosteen or rambutan, two super yummy fruits that I ate way too much of in Thailand when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer.  And if you know the Thai word for rambutan...I will find them and we'll split a bag of 'em!)

Anyway, fruity Thai memories aside, this is a fun food book that you should check out tomorrow!

We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub by Angela Shelf Medearis

We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

Rating: 5 stars


How do you get a Ben to read?

One silly book + one sweet and silly big sister = lots of reading fun.

(yes, I thank my lucky stars for them--and Kiefer--each and every night!)

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson

 The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jonathan Bean

Rating: 4 stars

There's something so very special about the bond between father and daughter, and books that showcase this oh-so-important relationship are welcome on my shelf.  In this book, the father is a gentle and strong (such an important mix) farmer, who can both drive horses and bake a pie.

Using a cumulative rhyme, Lauren Thompson lists the ingredients of apple pie.  But it's not the obvious ones that my kids could list after baking pies for years with me--cinnamon, butter, lemon juice, cornstarch, apples.  Nope.  The ingredients in the book go deeper.  Here's what I mean:

This is the rain, cool and fresh,
that watered the roots, deep and fine,that fed the tree, crooked and strong,
that grew the apples, juicy and red,
that went in the pie, warm and sweet,
that Papa baked.

The wonderful illustrations by Jonathan Bean add a whole lot--the smiley sun shines down on the apple tree, the girl, and her father.  They are warm, comforting, beautiful--in a not-so-traditional way.  The story and illustrations make me think of John Steinbeck's novels, and the descriptions of farming in them.

Just a simple tale about a man baking for his daughter--and a little reminder that a gift from the heart, made with your hands, and shared with one you love, is definitely the best.

(And in case you now want to bake apple pie, click here for the best recipe around.)

Carrot Soup by John Segal

 Carrot Soup by John Segal

Rating: 5 stars

I'm on a mission: to get my trio to love soup.  I love soup, so why shouldn't they?  It's simple, healthy, and make-ahead-able.  The problem?  They just don't like it.  YET.

Enter books about soups, including this one.  We've checked out this book a number of times from our great little library, but neither Lorelei nor Ben has suggested "Let's make carrot soup!" when I or they get to the end, where there's a recipe for carrot soup.  YET.

Ben added 6 cups of carrots.

I grabbed the book, checked it out, and brought it home.  Lorelei pulled it from the library bag, read it, got to the last page and guess what she said?  "Let's make carrot soup!"  I stifled my chuckle and replied: "What a great idea!"

Due to Lorelei's long days in kindergarten and our early mornings, it worked out best to make it this morning, after Daddy drove her to the bus.  While I was still sipping coffee and Kiefer was in between breakfast number one (banana and milk) and breakfast number two (cheesey eggs), the boys and I made carrot soup.  The sun hadn't even come up yet, but we were cooking!

I did most of the cooking, to be honest.  I let the kids cut things with butter knives, but carrots and onions required a real knife, so I'll wait a few years to hand those over.  While I sliced and diced, the boys did their favorite kitchen activity ever: pretend cooked.  They pulled out half the contents of the pantry, a bag of potatoes, and my leftover chicken broth cartons and added and mixed and created to their heart's content.

(Clean up took a while, in case you're wondered, but it's done.)

Kiefer minds the "pretend carrot soup" which
had everything but carrots in it.

 This book--I guess I should tell you about it--is a really good spring book (I type as winter is still weeks away).  Spring is Rabbit's favorite season, and he's excited to plant seeds for his favorite vegetable, carrots.  He waters, weeds, and waits until finally--FINALLY!--the carrots are ready.  He grabs his wheelbarrow and heads out.  But there's a problem: he can't find any carrots to dig up.

One by one, he asks his friends if they've seen his carrots.  One by one, they all say no...but one by one the reader sees them sneak in the background with wheelbarrows, bushels, arms full of carrots.  Rabbit is unaware, but Ben and Kiefer both shrieked in delight at the joke (we read the book while the carrot soup was simmering, during Kiefer's breakfast number two).

Discouraged and disappointed, Rabbit heads home...to a surprise party, with all of his friends and carrot soup.

Keep your fingers crossed that the eating of the carrot soup is just as successful as the making of carrot soup for us tonight!  I'm okay with the worst-case scenario: the kids each take a single "thank you bite," the boys get a little practice cooking for real and pretend, and I have lunch made for myself for the next few days.


P.S.  I didn't actually use the recipe in the book.  I like this one a whole lot better!

Food For Thought by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

Food For Thought: The Complete Book of Concepts for Growing Minds by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

Rating: 5 stars

Before telling you how cool this book is, I just have to point out the name of the authors: Saxton and Joost.  Um, why were we not aware of those two cool names when naming our children?!  Joost.  Pretty fun.  Let me practice it:  "Joooooost!  Time for dinner!"  Ok, maybe it would raise an eyebrow or two in this non-Dutch neighborhood...

Now, about the book.

Here is a book that combines two of my favorite things: great books and great food.  These two author-artists cut out fruits and veggies to make all sorts of cute and hilarious images--mostly but not only animals.  The expressions on some of the "faces" are amazing!  Really laugh-out-loud funny.

There are five little chapters: shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites.  But really, this is more about fun than learning.  Oh wait...the two can be combined!  Check it out.  And giggle a little with your little one.


I do apologize if your children want their next fruity snack to resemble the this creative, edible art.

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake

Rating: 5 stars

My kids don't eat a lot of donuts (see P.S. below), but they still like this book, and if your kids are donut-lovers, this is definitely a book to check out.  And I really like this book--it's too fun to not like.

The plump donut chef (apparently he likes to taste a few of the donuts from each of the batches he cooks) from the cover opens up a donut shop on a quiet street.

He stacked his pots, he cleaned his pans,
He dusted off the ceiling fans.
He grabbed a spoon, then turned a knob,
And set the stove to do its job! 

That donut chef, he worked so hard
By mixing flour, sugar, lard.
He baked his donuts fresh at dawn,
Then hoped by noon they'd all be gone.

Soon a skinny chef (clearly he doesn't taste enough of his product) saw his success and sought to steal the donut-chomping clientele.  He opened a shop nearby, and the two fought for customers through price points and shop hours.  But that wasn't enough.

They tried new shapes beyond just rings--
Their donuts were such crazy things!
Some were square and some were starry,
Some looked just like calamari!
Some were airy, some were cone-y!
Some resembled macaroni!

The donuts became so bizarre that customers couldn't even recognize them as donuts.  One day, a little girl walked into the shop, stared at the rows and rows of crazy concoctions, and asked why they didn't have her favorite kind: glazed.  Simple, uncomplicated glazed.

Soon, the crowd begins to shout for glazed.  Where've they been? they suddenly wonder.  The plump donut chef realizes his error and cooks up a batch and, when that batch is quickly gobbled up, cooks up another and another.  He realizes that success lies in providing the least frilly flavor of all.

I love the lesson: Go simple, go with the basics. You just can't go wrong.


P.S. I actually don't like donuts.  The super-sweet smell of them just turns my stomach, and when I do ignore my better judgment and eat one, my stomach gives me a hard time later on.  My kids have only had donuts a handful of times in their lives.  I try not to be a complete spoilsport, but their growing bodies need quality nourishment to fuel their crazy pursuits, and...donuts are not exactly what I'd call "quality nourishment."  Yup, that's right: I'm into depriving my kids of sweets, one donut at a time.  I'm okay with that.

The Great Doughnut Parade by Rebecca Bond

The Great Doughnut Parade by Rebecca Bond

Rating: 4 stars

Here's the skinny on this beautifully illustrated book: Little Billy ties a string around a doughnut, and then ties the string around himself.  This little doughnut quickly attracts the attention of a cat, then a dog, then a girl, and then...  Soon the entire town is following Billy and his doughnut.  By the end of the book the parade erupts into joyous dance, though no one is quite sure why they are there.  While everyone dances around, Billy slips off to eat the "crisp and delicious fried ring--the doughnut he'd tied to his belt with a string."

It's a cute book, though I know of some people who'd turn the parade into a riot when doughnuts weren't equitably distributed to the followers.  (These people are actually pint-sized--namely, my twin nieces and nephew.)  The pictures are beautiful, full of people swirling around with bright smiles on their faces.

But really, this blog is just an excuse to tell you how cool my dad is.

Over the weekend, we went to brunch with my dad and step-mother, known as The GRAND-Dad and Grandma Sharon to my kids.  He handed Lorelei and Ben this book, and said, "Now make sure you call me when you get to the end!"  They were too excited to tell him about their brand new lunchboxes to read, so I put the book next to my bag.

...and GRAND-Dad was eating and dreaming too
wanting to have a doughnut with each of you!

We got home, I forgot to take the book out of the car, and it was soon part of the pile of crap that had accumulated during the week.  Oops.  But when I did manage to pull it out from my un-immaculate vehicle, it  soon found its way to Lorelei's eager lap.  She sat there reading it, and as soon as she was done, she snapped it shut and said: "I need to call GRAND-Dad!"  So we did.

Later, I looked through the book myself.  Billy escapes to his solitary doughnut delight on the last page, but my dad had added another page, with another rhyming passage:

"...and GRAND-Dad was eating and dreaming too / wanting to have a doughnut with each of you!"

And he taped in a picture of himself, smiling big, about to bite into a glazed doughnut.

What I love so much is that my dad, an often-serious retired Army general, was playing with his grandkids through books.  He, the consummate booklover himself, a guy who consumes 3 or 4 books a week, a guy who can tell you the page number of certain quotations from a few thick books, a guy who showed me by example how to escape into the pages of a book...  He was speaking my kids' language, especially Lorelei's language, sharing a joke in the pages of another soon-to-become beloved book.

This is yet another way to have fun with books, to not make reading a chore but instead a light-hearted way to share and communicate and love.

Or maybe it was just an excuse for my dad, a big doughnut-lover, to have a few more doughnuts.  My kids' arms don't have to be twisted much.

Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Rating: 5 stars

When I tell people I have a children's book blog, they ask me: "Why don't you write a book of your own?"

Here's why:  When we talked about this book at lunch, and thought of what other kitchen utensils would make good characters for books, we came up: a microwave.  I tried to get the kids past it, but they were stuck on microwave.  It'd be a mad one, according to Ben.  And the door could be its mouth, added Lorelei.  And it could be mean to all the other kitchen appliances until it needed help, and then it'd become friendly.  Well, we at least we have characters, a conflict and resolution worked out...  But a best-seller?  Um, probably not.


But you're in luck.  We didn't write this book.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal did, and this book is GREAT!  And has an Asian twist, which always makes me happy.  

Chopsticks have been best friends for forever; they do everything together.  "They are practically joined at the hip."  But suddenly...one of them breaks a leg!  He is quickly whisked away (by a whisk!  I love it!) and repaired, but needs to stay off that one leg for a while.  He encourages his partner to go out and do things for himself.

What a scary thing...but, after a few deep chopstick-breaths, off trots the friend for some solo adventures.  He plays with playdoh, serves as a pole to vault, and participates in Pick Up Sticks.

When his buddy is better, they now have more things to enjoy...together.  They realize they can now stand on their own, or stick together.

Guess what they play on the piano to celebrate?  You guessed it...Chopsticks.

Lorelei, reading Chopsticks to Ben.

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Rating: 5 stars

Many days I think about writing a children's book.  And then I read one like Spoon, and I'm floored by the author's talent.  Rosenthal's ability to find a story to tell is so impressive!  And the wit she uses on each and every page (and Magoon's equally quirky-funny pictures) humbles me back into blog-dom.  Nope, no children's book for me today.  I'll just continue to read 'em and write about 'em.  Sniff, sniff...

Another great one by Rosenthal!  We can't get enough of her books right now.

Young Spoon is frustrated.  Everyone around him seems to have it better than he does.  Knife gets to cut and spread, Fork gets to leap into cakes and twirl spaghetti around her tines, Chopsticks have each other and are so exotic.  Sigh.

This is Spoon's family.

But just as Spoon is looking at everyone else with envy, they are looking at him the same way.  Knife wishes he could loudly bang against a pot, Fork wishes he could measure stuff, and Chopsticks wish they could be useful alone.

At bedtime, Spoon's mom helps him realize how lucky he is, how unique he is, and he feels a lot better.  Still he can't sleep.  So what do his parents do?  Invite him into their bed and they all three...well, you know...spoon.

So cute!

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake

Rating: 4.5 stars

Farmer McPhee is a lemon farmer; he grows beautiful yellow, tangy, tasty lemons in an orchard that goes on for miles.  Staake's words are almost like a chant, and McPhee is clearly the cheerleader for his own lemons.    

Lemons for sherbert and lemons for pie!
Lemons for drinks on the Fourth of July!
Lemons for cookies and sweet birthday cakes!
Lemons for muffins and fresh fruity shakes!

Then...GASP!...a red lemon grows on a tree.  Farmer McPhee freaks out, plucks the offending fruit from his otherwise yellow lemon tree, and hurls it across the ocean to an island.  The book fades out (well, not really, but...you get the picture) and two hundred years pass.  Turns out, in the future, there are no yellow lemon trees on the isle where Farmer McPhee once farmed.  Instead, on the new island, are red lemon trees that are even tangier and sweeter and tastier.  Who knew?

"That lemon's not yellow. / My goodness it's red!"

I love it!  I love ANY book that allows me to say: "Why don't you try it?  Might be better than what you know."  My kids are good eaters, but there are always new tastes to be had.  Usually, I whip out a taste test--it's my main tool to get them to try new things.  Which do you like better: Red or green apples?  Pasta in marinara or pesto?  Kale chips or beet chips (yup, another crazy beet recipe)?  Or, like last week, red or yellow raspberries?  Try something new--you might like it.

Staake says this book is one of his favorites.  When asked what he wanted to teach through the book, he states:  "Don't be afraid of the unusual, embrace the uncommon, evolve or die.  It's Farmer McPhee's intolerance, fearful assumptions and lack of seeing the bigger picture that literally dooms his future...  After all, when life serves you red lemons, the smart thing to do is make red lemonade."

I'm pretty sure I'll wait a few years to tell my kids that they need to "evolve or die," but I like the rest of what Staake has to say about his book, and in his book.

Rah Rah Radishes! A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Rah Rah Radishes! A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Rating: 5 get-your-veggies stars!

If there is something else I'd have a blog about, it'd be kids and food.  Or maybe health in general--I'm a big fitness junkie, a marathon runner, and sometimes annoyingly healthy eater.  I want my kids to BE healthy--eat healthy and love to get out and move their body.  I want it to be second nature to them.  I am smart enough to realize how difficult it is to change bad habits in adulthood, so...I want them to get a good start.

I admit I'm sort of a meanie with food.  They eat a lot of vegetables, often two different kids of vegetables at lunch and dinner, and I'm constantly trying to get them to eat new things.  I went on a beet kick last year and made plain old broiled beets, beet soup, and even beet pancakes (recipe here)!  Um, I sorta love beets.  Anyway, we all eat bell peppers like most eat apples.  One of Ben's favorite foods ever is kale chips (recipe here).  Tomatoes from our garden never make it inside.  Ben has chosen a cucumber over bread.  Tonight after dinner Lorelei said, "I have a taste for carrots and almonds." Your wish is my command, little girl!

Kiefer likes beets, too!

So when I saw this book at the library, I grabbed it.  I'm trying really hard not to buy it, but I LOVE IT!  My kids love it.  It is SO fun to read, so great to talk about, so full of big photographs that invite questions and answers and...conversation.  My kids often accompany me to the grocery store, but c'mon, who's not in a rush with three little kids at the grocery store?  This is a book that should be on all of our shelves.

Here are some of my favorite lines:
"Oh boy, bok choy!"
"Bounce for beets!"
"Grab that garlic, please your palate!"
"Veggies rock!"

Seriously, though, I was shocked to learn, while watching the HBO series Weight of the Nation, that a huge portion of kids, especially low income and inner city, often go without any fresh fruit or vegetables.  For days.  Weeks.  Months.  They know what an apple is, and often a banana.  But kohlrabi?  Brussels?  Spinach?  I am dismayed and disheartened and definitely feel compelled to do something.  Just trying to figure out what...  Feel free to throw suggestions my way if you've got any bright ideas.

Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! by Janet Stevens, illustrated by Susan Stevens Crummel

Cook a Doodle Doo! by Janet Stevens, illustrated by Susan Stevens Crummel

Rating: 3.5 stars

Here's the skinny on this book: It's a twist on the classic Chicken Little story, where the rooster wants someone to help him make strawberry shortcake but the animals don't want to help him, just as they didn't want to help his Granny.  But then three unlikely heroes step forward and offer to help--a turtle, iguana, and pot-bellied pig.  These animals are pretty clueless in the kitchen, so they do silly things like trying to beat an egg with a baseball bat.  But their can-do attitude is great, even when pot-bellied pig eats the whole cake when it's done because "I"m the taster!  I was just tasting it!"

Hmm...that's what my husband says about the cookies I bake...in-ter-est-ing....

Anyway, on the side of many pages are informative paragraphs about baking.  The authors teach you from where teaspoons and tablespoons are derived, what an ingredient actually is, and stuff like that.

I had trouble finding books on strawberries.  A friend of mine suggested this one, so I checked it out from our wonderful local library, and it has been traveling between the library shelf and Lorelei's room for the past week.  Ben isn't very interested; I read it to him once and actually thought the book was too long.  He has a good attention span, but this book is...looooong.

But then Lorelei saw it, grabbed it, and sat reading it on the sofa.  She laughed out loud at a few parts.  And for days she was obviously thinking about the book, trying to get the humor in it.  It was as if she realized she should be laughing, but she didn't exactly get the joke.  Out of the blue she asked: "Why did the iguana want to beat the eggs with a baseball bat?"

So the book is pretty good (thanks for the suggestion, Colleen!), though a little long for those with still-growing attention spans.  But for the little readers who are ready for more and have a good sense of humor developing in their little minds--those who are eager to chuckle at silly things (I know all of us in this house fall in this category!)--this is a good book to check out.

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 5 yummy stars

This is, by far, my favorite wordless picture book.  I love, love, love it.

It's a simple story: a woman wakes up thinking about pancakes.  She assembles the ingredients--the traditional way.  No grocery store run for her.  She milks the cow, churns the butter, gathers the eggs, collects syrup from the tree.  Just as she's ready to make the pancakes, she realizes her dog and cat, who are also hungry, ate all the ingredients!  She's bummed.  But then...sniff, sniff...she realizes her neighbors woke with the same idea.  So she trudges through the snow, invites herself in, and eats a bunch of their pancakes (hopefully not all of them!).

As always, Tomie DePaola's drawings are funny and sweet, straightforward and inviting.  Nothing fancy in this book, just simple drawings for a simple story.

I'm usually not a fan of books without words, and can empathize when I hear other parents complain of them.  At the end of the day, when you're counting down the seconds until the door is closed on your day as a parent, who wants to actually think of the words to a story?!  I hear ya.

BUT they are important...  Here are a few reasons why (feel free to add your own, and tell me which ones you like to read with your kids/students):

• Kids imagine and create their own words and stories.
  
• Kids can "read" them by themselves, giving you a bit of a break and them a boost of confidence on their own path to literacy.
  
• As always, you can practice prediction and sequencing.
  
• For budding artists, having a wordless, cartoon-like book can inspire them to write/draw a book of their own.

But don't forget the best part of all about this particular book: it inspires you to make pancakes!  Hear are my two favorite healthy recipes in case you're in need of a new taste:

From my favorite restaurant in Atlanta, the Flying Biscuit, click here to get their oatmeal pancakes.  They soak overnight in buttermilk...yum, yum.  Top with peaches like they do, and a little maple syrup.  Definitely half the recipe, unless you are feeding a small army or the Dugger family!

From Cooking Light, click here to get a recipe for whole wheat pancakes.  We add blueberries to ours and usually dip them in honey.  They freeze really well (freeze individually) and become my go-to dinner when I need to get dinner on the table in 5.4 minutes or less.

(Also, see those labels at the end of this post?  Click on "wordless books" to see my reviews of a bunch of other wordless books, including the great Polo series, which are great for traveling in the car...)

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood

Rating: 4 stars

I think most people read this books to their kids when those "kids" are actually infants, or barely walking.  I've heard of it before and read it at the bookstore out of curiosity, but this is the first time we've all read it together, little Kiefer included.  We all give it one thumb's up, though for different reasons than I expected.

The story, in case you've not read it: Mouse finds a strawberry and wants to eat it, but this voice tells him that there's a big, hungry bear who wants to eat it.  Mouse tries to hide it, guard it, and disguise it...but the voice tells him that the bear will sniff it out and find it.  The only way to keep safe from the bear is to slice it in half and share it with the mysterious voice, and then it will be gone before the bear finds it.

"But, little Mouse, haven't you heard about the big, hungry Bear?"

Things we like:

• That mouse is so silly!  His expressions are so wonderful, and Ben giggles at every picture on every page.
• It is very fun to read, especially the page where the mouse shakes with fear.  Ben laughed like crazy as I shook the book like crazy.
• Nice lesson on sharing...a mom can't dislike that!
• Kiefer is amused by the book (or, more accurately, my reading of it), Ben giggles throughout it, and Lorelei asks some good questions.  That's a good book: it holds the attention of a wide range of kids.
• The book makes us wonder, and think--who is talking to mouse?  It is mysterious, and we don't know the real answer.  What a fun twist for little kids who are usually told The Answer.
• The book makes us question:  Where is that bear?  Why don't we get to see him?  Does the bear really exist, or is the mysterious voice tricking the mouse into sharing?  (Okay, is it bad that I suggested this to inquisitive Lorelei?  Will it make her suspect intentions that are actually fine and true??  Mommy demerit for me...)

We checked out this book because we're starting our summer field trips a little early this year.  We're going strawberry picking for the first time on Friday!  Lorelei and Ben are very excited.  We've picked blueberries (check out pictures from our first time picking, here in the review of Blueberries for Sal).  This year I'm hoping to link our field trips to books a little more thoughtfully...keep your fingers crossed that this works all summer long!  Having three kids sometimes challenges my ability to fulfill a few aspirations here and there...!

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yong Sheng Xuan

Rating: 4 stars

Confession: The only reason I checked this book out was to continue my current campaign for Lorelei to love noodles.

Sadly, she still just tolerates them, eating the exact number, and no more, to get past my dinner requirements.  Grrr.  At least she tries them.  This week we've tired yet ANOTHER type of pasta, selected by her at the grocery store yesterday.  That means that in our pantry we've got: spaghetti, shell-like orecchiette, bow-tie farfalle, spinach penne, colorful corkscrew fusilli, and now some colorful tubular variety.  This quest has involved several books including Strega Nona, but hasn't given me the result I want.

Sigh.

At least I found a really interesting book in the process.  This book is about the origin of noodles, which is China, not Lorelei's (and beloved Grammy's) beloved Italy.  A family in Beijing is going to make the same old delicious dumpling dish for a cooking contest until the mother leaves the boys in charge of the kitchen.  (My grandmother, who also had three boys, would have known better.)  Of course, they make a mess of things and end up making long sheets of rice, which they cut into long strips.  They enter the contest and, because the emperor had never tasted anything like that before, they win.

What I love most about the book is related to my quest.  The three boys have three different ways of eating noodles, something that I think is great because I'm always saying that there's rarely only one way to do anything.  (Sometimes Lorelei wants Ben to do something EXACTLY as she wants.)  First, there's "eating a drumstick," which involves rolling some of the noodles around the tip of his chopsticks and stuffing it into your mouth.  second, there's "sucking a worm," which means you put one end of the noodle in your mouth and suck/slurp like crazy until the whole thing is in your mouth.  Third, there's "cutting the grass," which allows you to stuff noodles in your mouth and bite off all the strands hanging out of your mouth with your teeth.  So fun!  As the messiest eaters in the family, Ben and I would definitely be happy to try all of these.

(By the way, if you've not gotten cheater chopsticks for your kid, they are so fun!  We have these.  Lorelei is a pro, though they frustrate Ben a bit.)

So this is a good book for a bunch of different reasons.  There's a whole other culture to explore (and the illustrations are definitely Asian in the best way), the origin of the best carbohydrate known to man, and techniques to eat those wonderful carbs.  We look forward to reading Compestine's other books--after checking out this book, I realized she wrote The Runaway Wok, a recent book that we really like.

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!