Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast -- Perfect Picture Book Friday

This is important! Saturday March 21st at 11 AM EST (That's 10 am in Chicago or CST), Josh will be reading this book LIVE on Facebook and Instagram. You don't have to miss out on anything. Race over and connect with Josh so you can enjoy this book and all the others he will be reading in the near future. It will be the best, cause it's being read to you by the author! But don't miss it, the video will only be available for a short time.

Title: Lady Pancake &Sir French Toast
Author: Josh Funk
Illustrator: Brendan Kearney
Publisher: Sterling Books, 2015

For ages 4 and up

Book Description:
A thoroughly delicious picture book about the funniest "food fight!" ever! Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast have a beautiful friendship—until they discover that there's ONLY ONE DROP of maple syrup left. Off they go, racing past the Orange Juice Fountain, skiing through Sauerkraut Peak, and reeling down the linguini. But who will enjoy the sweet taste of victory? And could working together be better than tearing each other apart? The action-packed rhyme makes for an adrenaline-filled breakfast . . . even without a drop of coffee!

Themes: Food, Competition, Friendship, Sharing, Books in Rhyme

Opening Lines: 
"Deep in the fridge and behind the green peas,
way past the tofu and left of the cheese,
Up in the corner, and back by a roast,
sat Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast."

Why I believe you will like this book:

This book takes Food Wars to a whole different place.

Have you ever wanted something so badly and there was only one available? Add to that your best friend said they wanted that something too. Did you give in? Did you let your bestie have it?

No?

I didn't think so. You look like the kind of person who loves a race, some competition, and winning.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are that kind of friends. Join them in the race the the last drop of syrup. You will rhymingly (I just made that word up) travel through the fridge where all the food comes to life.

But wait, there's more! You will discover what word Josh rhymes with linguini, and figure out the meaning of some challenging words.

Who do you think will win? What will the winner do?

Once the race is over, be sure to take some time looking at the fun illustrations.

Activities and Resources:

Follow Josh on Facebook: @Josh.Funk.Books. Again: Saturday 3/21 he will be reading Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast live on Facebook and Instagram.

His full website. There's an activity book.

Listen to the Songs for each book.

I found this bio about Josh on his website:
Bio Written by Josh's Cat:
Meow meow meow. Mew meow. Grrrr! MEOW! Mew mew meow mew meow. Me-oooooow! Mew.

Learn More About the Illustrator

Learn How Maple Syrup is made on a big scale.

Hungry? Is it wrong to share these recipes?

French Toast Recipe

or

Pancakes

I love to slice up an apple sprinkle it with cinnamon and ginger powder and fry it up until the apple slices are soft and browned. You can cook them in coconut oil or in butter. Right before they are done, I sprinkle in some of my favorite nuts and toast them up to add some extra flavor. Maybe even add some dried blueberries, cranberries or cherries to the mix. Makes a great topping especially if you only have a drop of syrup in the fridge. YUM!


Be sure to check out Susanna Hill's weekly PPBF post to see what she is writing about and to discover what other writers and educators are promoting.

Explorers -- A Perfect Picture Book for Friday

I love museums. They are filled with so many wonders. I am also very nervous about museums. They are huge with lots of rooms and loads of people. It can get overwhelming. But everything is so impressive and awe inspiring.

In comes Explorers by Matthew Cordell. This wordless picture book is a whole new way to explore. Each image provides so much to see and think about. You are in the Museum, some iconic views of Chicago museums, and then rooms from . . . Wait. let's start at the beginning. The opening scene is an ode to the cover of The Beatles album Abbey Road. 

Then there's the iconic Chicago hot dog stands, and the people who set up shop selling trinkets and magic.

The story is about visiting a museum and discovering friendship along the way. The boy purchases a magic origami bird and plays with it through the museum. When it is caught by another child, the boy grabs it back and gets into trouble, but as stories go, that is not the end and the boy takes an unexpected tour in the museum.

This story begins before the title page with the scenes from above. Then the family and readers enter the museum.

While it seems that the story is set in the Field Museum, if you have spent time in the museums in Chicago, I believe that Matthew is testing us to see if we know where all these scenes really are located. I believe he added scenes from The Peggy Notebaeret Museum, and The Art Institute.

Take a close up look at the entrance in the Field museum photo above. The pattern of the blocks above the doorway and the blocks on the upper right and left of the building, are mimicked on the benches in the book. I can't remember if the benches really look like that, but you will see this pattern repeated a lot throughout the Field Museum.

This book is about museums, family, magic, Chicago, and friendship. The more you look, the more magic will appear.

What will you discover on your explorations?

Resources and Activities:

Whether you live in Illinois or another state, there are many museums you can visit and become and explorer.

Did you know that Museums and National Parks offer free days? If you live in or around Chicago, here's a list of free days.

https://www.choosechicago.com/articles/museums-art/free-museum-days-in-chicago/

If you don't live in the Chicago area, be sure to check out your community. 

The University in my town has a small museum that is free and open to the public. There are many places you can visit at little or no cost, take some time to see what's in your neighborhood.

You will also find hidden in the images, the Mold-O-Rama machines that are fixtures at several locations in Illinois. You can learn more about them here.

You can make your own flying origami bird.

Learn more about Matthew and follow him on Instagram.

A bit about wordless picture books.

You can also check out his wife, Julie Halpern's books too.

Perfect Picture Book Friday -- Sam & Eva

Today begins the SCBWI Marvelous Midwest Writers and illustrators conference. I am so excited to have Debbie as a guest and presenter at the conference. If you haven't seen her books (the two she wrote and illustrated and all the ones she has illustrated, be sure to check them out. There's a link to her website at the end of this post.

Title: Sam & Eva
Author and illustrator: Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2017

Opening Lines: Sam had just begun to draw when Eva arrived. "I like your pony," Eva said. "It's a velociraptor," said Sam.

Themes: Drawing, imagination, friendship, collaboration

About the book:
Sam wants to draw alone, but Eva wants to join him. The drawings takes on a life of their own as Sam and Eva's imaginary worlds collide. When Eva decides it isn't fun anymore and leaves, Sam realizes that something is missing from the experience.

Why I love this book:
I love books that show kids making art and using their imaginations.

This book about friendship and collaboration starts off on the wrong foot. Not an uncommon occurrence for kids (I won't mention adults). It's interesting to think about what shifts during the interaction to turn the relationship to something good and special? In this book, there are no adults. The answer to the problem in this story is not dramatic. It's just letting things happen and allowing a relationship to take its course. I think this is an important lesson for kids to learn. We don't always need someone to tell us how to fix and build relationships.

I love that the Sam and Eva are drawn in black and white and all the color is in the drawings they create.

Some Activities:

Make a Dry Erase/Magnetic  Board Wall : This is just one video of how to make a the wall. But Wouldn't it be fun to be able to draw on the walls and not get in trouble?

Debbie's Cool Website filled with activities, downloadables, and cool stuff about her and her work.

Team Building Exercises

As always, to find more cool picture books check out Susanna Hill's Blog where you can look for reviews by book, title, and by themes.