Tyler Makes Pancakes!

Gr 1–3—A didactic take on a boy's journey to make pancakes for breakfast. When Tyler wakes up after a dream about pancakes in outer space, he and his trusty dog, Tofu, head to the market for ingredients. While the grocer explains where the ingredients come from—eggs from chickens, buttermilk from cows-Tyler and readers get a lesson in finding fresh food. While the author is to be commended for trying to encourage healthy eating, the story falls flat. Tyler is portrayed as a cartoonlike stick figure who bounces between the reality of talking to Mr. Jones at the market and scenes showing chickens and cows, making his location in space and time possibly confusing for young children. It also seems unrealistic that a child who can ride a bike to market alone would not know where eggs come from. Attempts at humor using Tyler's dog aren't completely successful, and in the end the story has more lumps and bumps in it than pancake batter.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA