Raising Readers :: children’s literature review

I really like Eric Carle. When I was about 9 years old, I had my copy of Have You Seen My Cat? signed by him in person. I relate to his style of illustration and the stories aren’t half bad. He uses repetition well, which as a former literacy tutor, I appreciate.

This morning, Baby S and I read the copy of Pancakes, Pancakes! that we checked out from the library at our first Wee Reads on Tuesday. It was fun – my first real mommy-baby event. It took me a few minutes to settle in to a new identity as a “mom at a kid thing” but I was a quick study. Baby S loved it! She squawked and squealed and kicked her legs as we sang and even hummed along while the leader read some stories. She had a blast watching all the “big” kids, too.

Ho-hum… back to Pancakes, Pancakes! The reason I suggest it is that it goes through the entire process of making pancakes. Like, harvesting and milling wheat, gathering eggs from the hens, milking the cow, churning the butter… you get the idea. I think it’s important for us to know where our food comes from and – doggone it – to be able to make things from scratch and not from depend on a box! I’m sure our family we’ll consume the road-trip necessitated Happy Meals a couple of times a year, but I do not want my children to grow up thinking pancakes come from boxes of Bisquick. I just don’t. First of all, it’s not healthy and we all know that. But, secondly, I want them to have to work for things and not get everything instant-gratification style… whether it be Saturday morning pancakes or an A in Physics.

Another (self-indulgent) reason I like this book is that it touches on some desires that D and I share. We would love, Lord willing, to have a small family farm. Some fruits and vegetables, a dairy cow, chickens, and some sheep. We imagine shearing the sheep every spring and selling the wool to pay for what it would cost to keep our little operation going. It’s a little while off, we’ve got to unload two mortgages first, but we have fun slowly steering in that direction. In the meantime, Farmgirl Fare’s two blogs keep us inspired.

Pancakes, Pancakes! – go read it to your baby today!