Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book fascinated the kids., December 18, 2002
Pancakes, Pancakes! is another beautifully illustrated Eric Carle book for the youngsters. My son likes nothing better than a huge plate of pancakes for breakfast and was attracted to this book immediately upon viewing its cover depicting a large, happy pancake. Pancakes, Pancakes! tells the story of a hungry little boy who wakes one morning with a craving for pancakes. He asks him mom for pancakes but she's too busy and tells him to collect the things needed to make them instead (they apparently don't sell the frozen ones in this story). He's a good little boy and does so without complaint. He has to make the flour (by hand!), wait for the hen to lay an egg, milk the spotted cow, churn the butter and so on until he has all of the ingredients assembled. Frankly, I was surprised this poor child didn't complain and then collapse from exhaustion! Finally, the sweet boy gets his pancakes and all ends well. My kids were riveted to this tale and especially enjoyed the illustrations. They were particularly fascinated by the page containing a picture of the ingredients the boy collected. The story also invited a lot of questions (my kids are used to microwave pancakes and were quite bewildered by the lengths the boy had to go to for breakfast). They both seemed to enjoy it very much and, best of all, it held their attention and made them think and ask questions instead of zoning out while I read. All of this combined with the beautiful art work makes Pancakes, Pancakes! a keeper for us.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an easy new Sunday morning routine, October 3, 2005
I think a lot of families make pancakes as their special Sunday morning breakfast; we never did until I read this book. It makes it so easy! While I was setting up the ingredients my husband read this book to my daughter. Then we cooked them just like the book said.
I really recommend the Swedish Pancake Mix by Lund's for this instead of Aunt Jemima since the Swedish mix you have to stir and stir to get all the lumps completely out. You can even pour it into a jar and shake it to get it smooth, which is a great task for a four year old. If you have several kids, they can take turns stirring, passing it back and forth forever and you don't have to worry that "overmixing will toughen pancakes" like with Aunt J. Even better, you take the Lund's mix and add milk (not water) and an egg which is just like the book... and they make tiny little pancakes which are just kid size. You only use a tablespoon of batter at a time. (And jam on pancakes, like in the book, is easier for kids to eat and less messy than syrup... perfect all around, since they'll want to do it like Jack does).
Pancakes Pancakes made a great Sunday morning at our house even better! And I really like how, if you read it every week, your children will take different things away from it each time, from a small child learning that milk comes from cows/eggs from chickens, to an older child discovering the entire process of threshing wheat. Eric Carle has written a classic which will grow with your family. I really recommend making this book a part of your own traditions.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It takes some hard work to make pancakes, March 31, 1998
By A Customer
When Jack wakes up with a hankering for pancakes, he asks his mother to make them. Jack's mother is busy, though, and directs Jack to go through the labors of Hercules to fulfill his desire: Jack not only has to harvest and thresh the wheat and have the wheat milled, but he has to encourage the hen to lay an egg, milk the cow, churn the butter, fetch the jam, mix all the ingredients together and cook the pancakes over the stove. By my calculations, Jack doesn't get his pancakes until dinnertime. I kept expecting him to holler in frustration, "What the heck does a guy have to do to get a pancake?" On the other hand, none of these thoughts occurred to my three year old son. Fascinated by the book's colorful pictures, he enjoyed talking about what wheat is, where milk and eggs come from, that some cows have spots and wear bells, and how sometimes good things require patience and lots of hard work. And then we ate pancakes and jam.
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