Sometimes when we look at our book choices for "Book of the Week" winners, we truly marvel at how authors and illustrators come up with such wildly original and crazy ideas. We can imagine Josh and Brendan coming in late one night, anxious for a quick snack and diving into the fridge only to find...what? A discarded bean salad? A few curly lettuce leaves? An inordinate amount of condiments (often with only a dribble left in the bottom but still too precious to toss away).
Well that's what we see when we look in our fridge but who knows what happens when the lights go out, the door is closed and the secret world therein comes to life.
Meet Lady Pancake, a slightly prissy madam and Sir French Toast, a dandy moustache-wearing fellow - the stars of a frenetic mad dash for the last tiny drop of maple syrup left in the bottom of a bottle.
"It's mine!" screams Lady Pancake!
"Mais Non, it's MINE!" shouts Sir French Toast and the hazardous race begins, with each competitor determined to grab the last precious drop of sweet sweet syrup for themselves.
Alas, the plans of toast and pancake do not always go swimmingly. A new contender appears, and they're just the sort of unsavoury cove that can really throw a rusty pair of salad tongs into the mix and cause absolute chaos!
You'll have to read this fabulous book to find out who it is!
"Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast" rhymes beautifully and is a read-aloud pleasure. We're often quite 'down' on rhyming books. Some people (as we found out watching last night's "The Apprentice" - and I promise you that's the last time I'll mention 'that' episode!) seem to think clunky unwieldy rhyming will 'do' when it comes to children's books and that's just not the case. Thankfully Josh beats out a rhythm to match the frenetic action in this story and Brendan supplies some tasty eye candy (even Sauerkraut Mountain looks delish!!)
We ate this up, just like we'd eat up the two protagonists. Absolutely perfect!
Charlotte's favourite bit: A perilous race across a shifting sea of every kind of bean you can imagine (except Jelly Beans, as she pointed out).
Daddy's favourite bit: A hugely original and brilliant romp, tantalising on the tastebuds, delicious to read aloud, and a tasty treat for the eyes too! Perfecto!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Sterling Publishing)
"Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast"
Written by Josh Funk
Illustrated by Brendan Kearney
Published by Sterling Publishing
Publication Date: 7th November 2015