Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast

Written by Josh Funk
Illustrated by Brendan Kearney
Sterling Children’s Books     9/01/2015
978-1-4549-1404-4
32 pages     Ages 4—8

“He race is on . . .

“Lady Pancake ad Sir French Toast are the best of friend until word gets out that there’s ONLY ONE DROP OF SYRUP left. Only one of them can enjoy the sweet, swet taste of victory. Is their friendship toast?” [inside jacket]

Review
Inside a refrigerator, in a nearly empty bottle, sits the last drop of syrup. Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, normally the best of friends, vie for that last drop. They take off on a no-holds barred race from shelf-to-shelf, racing around vegies and leftovers, skirting broccoli and potatoes (mashed, of course), and parachuting to a lower shelf all in search of that one last drop. The two friends arrive at the syrup bottle, but—by a slight drip of a drop—the bottle of syrup is empty. What?

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast is a silly picture book. I had no idea these things went on in my refrigerator. This tongue-in-cheek story about friendship gone awry will have young children laughing each morning, or evening, if you happen to be one of those who eat breakfast for dinner. If so, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast will make excellent dinner conversation.

The illustrations depict the inside of a refrigerator as a lush landscape of various food items from a large turkey to a small pat of butter. The milk is in the cold section represented by a blue background. Then there is a lush field of broccoli, standing at attention, as if saluting a passing general, not two racing breakfast friends. There are details galore, which I love to see.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast has the goods needed to entertain young children, while increasing vocabularies. Some of the words will be new to most kids. After Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast conversed about the drop of syrup they screeched, plummeting, rappelled, hurdled, vaulted, and stumbled while seafaring, and slathering in muck. They used a grapevine, caused an avalanche, blasted broccoli, and finally exhausted and stumbling, the two crumbling friends—one used a parachute—found the syrup bottle.

The important take away from Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast is this: friendship should not be harmed with stupid races that can divide the winner and loser, because there is always a winner and a loser when two or more food items race. Lady Pancake and Mr. French Toast realize the drop of syrup would have been best shared between friends. This food fight of a race will cause assorted giggles, and a couple of belly laughs, and maybe even a guffaw or two. Don’t let the title throw you off. Lady Pancake and Mr. French Toast is a wonderful and educational picture book.

LADY PANCAKE AND MR. FRENCH TOAST. Text copyright © 2015 by Josh Funk. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Brendan Kearney. Reproduce by permission of the publisher, Sterling Children’s Books, New York, NY.

Get Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast at Amazon—Book Depository—IndieBound Books—Sterling.

Learn more about Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast HERE.
Find Activity Pages HERE.

Meet the author, Josh Funk, at his website:  http://www.joshfunkbooks.com/
Twitter        @joshfunkbooks
Meet the illustrator, Brendan Kearney, at his website:  http://www.brendankearneyillustration.co.uk/
Twitter        @brendandraws
Find more books at the Sterling Children’s Books website:  http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/
Twitter       @SterlingBooks
.          .  Sterling Children’s Books is an imprint of Sterling Publishing.

AWARDS

Also by Josh Funk
Dear Dragon (Fall, 2016)
Pirasaurs! (Spring, 2017)
Jack! (and the Beanstalk) (Fall, 2017)

Also by Brendan Kearney
100 Facts Around Town
Flying Machines
Leif Frond

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Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Full Disclosure: Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk & Brendan Kearney, and received from Sterling Children’s Books (an imprint of Sterling Publishing), is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review. The opinions expressed are my own and no one else’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

LADY PANCAKE AND MR. FRENCH TOAST by Josh Funk. Illustrations © 2015 by Brendan Kearney. Used by permission of Sterling Children’s Books.

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