1.5 stars -- Tyler wakes up with a serious pancake craving, so he goes to the grocery store to purchase all of the ingredients he needs. As Tyler chooses each ingredient, the grocer explains where each item comes from. Tyler's dog, Tofu (cute name) tags along.
Eggs sold in the grocery store are shown as coming from a little flock of chickens who peek out of a cute farmyard henhouse. You don't have to hold a degree in agriculture to know that that's about as likely as the Keebler elves being real. Things get even sillier when the carton of buttermilk is traced back to a farmer with a stool and a pail, hand-milking a single Holstein. Come on! (Tyler also has bacon and melon with his breakfast, but their origins are not explained. I figure things could've gotten a bit dicey explaining how bacon is produced.)
While heaping the factory farming debate upon the picture book set is overdoing it, we could at least be more honest about the ways in which our food is produced. Yes, this can be done in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner. If it's education the author is striving for, claiming that grocery store animal foods come from 19th-century style barnyards just doesn't cut it anymore.
Food Network chef Tyler Florence and Illustrator Craig Fazier team up in this cute book. Tyler, is a little boy who dream of pancakes when he wakes up he decides to surprise his parents with pancakes for breakfast and heads out on his bike with his dog Tofu. [ hmm.... young child heading out on bike while parents sleep to buy ingredients for pancakes??]
Mr. Jones from the local market gives Tyler an education as to where all the ingredients for pancakes come from -- eggs, wheat, butter, milk, maple syrup etc, [ this aspect of the book was well done and informative for young children]
When Tyler returns home he gets a little help in preparing breakfast for his parents and all sit down to enjoy a tall tall stack of pancakes.
My Thoughts - Well from the cover of this book, one would think a cute kids book for very young preschoolers, but the story, although well done left me feeling iffy about a young child heading off too the store on a bike while parents sleep, using the stove to cook pancakes? Perhaps the real audience might be 6-8 year range. The illustrations are a bit simplistic, and not all that colorful, but it was very informative for children to learn where our food comes from. In the end, I probably would not buy this book, but suggest borrowing it from the library instead.
This one is all about where our food comes from, and only one part made me go "hmmmmmm". Tyler wants to make pancakes, so he goes to the market. He finds out that eggs come from chickens, and buttermilk doesn't have butter in it, but it's what's left over after you make butter. Mr. Jones from the market tells Tyler about flour being ground from wheat, and maple syrup is boiled sap - and then he gives Tyler some bacon. No explanation. Well, I wouldn't want to explain in a picture book where bacon comes from either, but the dog's name is Tofu, all the other foods are explained in detail where they come from, so why even mention bacon?
Otherwise, good book, and fun to make the recipe afterward.
This book is fun and informational! Written by Food Network chef Tyler Florence and Illustrated by Craig Frazier, they team up to create a cute adventure of the creation of pancakes! Tyler, is a little boy who dreamed of blueberry pancakes and when he wakes up he craves for pancakes and decides to surprise his parents by making breakfast and heads out on his bike with his four-legged friend, Tofu. Eggs aren’t from refrigerators?? As Tyler picks up each ingredient needed for his pancakes, with the help of the grocer named Mr.Jones, he learns where they all originate from. After learning and gathering the ingredients, he prepares the pancakes for his parents back home. Many young children initially may not understand the process or even that there is a process for how the grocery foods are made before they arrive in the store! The book has a simple story line to follow, with funny and cute illustrations, this would be great to introduce cooking with younger children, such as your Kindergartner! The book also encourages engagement! Toward the end of the book, there is a pancake recipe that Tyler had used! You may use this advantage to make some after reading! Though I love the idea and set up of the book, I do have some concerns. They aren’t huge concerns, as this is a story meant for entertainment and pancakes, but where I just personally felt odd. I felt a little bit weird that such a young child was going off to make pancakes himself and using the stove alone. Also, though I love the introduction to agriculture and where some foods come from, it was very much not realistic for the majority of consumers’ cases. Yes, this should be age-appropriate but I felt that it was very silly. For example, i’m sure the majority of our sources of eggs aren’t as cute and pretty as that chicken coop, especially not where we get buttermilk hand-milked. There are no sources or sense of the farming factories that we do have. I’m also sure the author kept to pancakes as bacon or any other recipes with animal meat would be tricky to explain. But, I still enjoyed the book!
Tyler had a dream to explore pancakes in space. Upon waking up from the dream, he went out to the market to purchase ingredients for pancakes. He had a plan to prepare for pancakes to surprise his parents. Mr. Jones, at the market, found ingredients for the pancakes, eggs, buttermilk, butter, flour, and maple syrup, which are the lists of Tyler preparing pancakes. Mr. Jones’ explanations about the given ingredients give readers to know where those ingredients come from. Tyler went back home and mixed ingredients together. With the help of dad, he could cook pancakes. This picture book explains where the ingredients for pancakes come from. Since the pancakes are the main recipe, the authors might explain the origins of these specific lists instead of explaining where bacon and cantaloupes come from, which are the gifts by Mr. Jones. But I think it would be good to know where those ingredients are from as well. Moreover, this book implicitly tells that children need some help from adults when they deal with fire and stove for preparing food. However, it could be controversial about the idea of going out to the market in the morning while parents are asleep. However, it seems like Mr. Jones and Tyler have a close relationship, and it could be possible to get there if the distance between the house and the market is close enough by bicycle riding. I like the additional information about the nutrition factors of blueberries, effs, and buttermilk at the end of the page. Bold and straightforward lines of illustrations help me to read this book leisurely and focused.
ISBN-13: 9780062047526 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 4/24/2012 Pages: 40 Sales rank: 111,989 Age range: 4 – 7 Years Product dimensions: 10.24 (w) x 9.86 (h) x 0.42 (d)
I’ve recently discovered that I have a very hard time finding anything wrong with a picture book. I sat down with my niece, who is a squirmy almost 2-year-old to read through Tyler Makes Pancakes. With some help from her, we flipped through pages, pointed out cute drawings, and went through the entire book in about fifteen minutes. This was the perfect amount of time because she wouldn’t have stayed relatively still for much more than that. This have everything a child needs. 1. It is a simple storyline that is easy to follow. Tyler wakes up from a dream wanting pancakes. He goes out to the market with his dog to purchase the ingredients, goes through the store with the owner to get all of them learning a little as he goes, and then goes home to make the pancakes. 2. The illustrations are simple and funny to look at. 3. The pace goes quickly with no more than about five sentences on each page. This is a must since I’ve noticed that some children’s books have too many words on a page and when the child wants the page turned, it goes whether you have finished reading the lines or not. If there are fewer words on each page, I tend to get through the story without making things up.
At the end of the story, the book comes with a recipe for the pancakes that Tyler makes. This may be fun for someone who wants to whip up a batch with the help of their child after reading it. I would caution that Tyler is the one that does everything, including the stove work, so you may want to explain that Tyler may have been allowed to touch the stove, but your child is not. Also, there is a cute section about fun facts. I did not get through that with my niece, but the adults enjoyed that part as we laughed about certain unknown aspects of pancake making. All together, it’s hard to find flaws with such a cute book. The only thing that may be an issue with a child that is getting a little older is that Tyler leaves the home to go to the market while his parents are sleeping, gets all of the items with no mention of money, and does all of the cooking himself. It’s safe to say that you don’t want your child following that example.
This book is full of child-like drawings that are sure to attract a young audience. The book is a great instructional piece that tells children not only how to make a famous breakfast dish, but where the ingredients come from. Many children will not realize that the things they buy at the grocery store come from much different places than the shelf. I would love to use this book to teach a lesson on where produce and other food items come from along with how cooking can be fun. This book teaches young children that they are also capable of cooking as well. The pictures are great and full of color. I highly recommend this book for the younger students maybe in kindergarten. This book is even more unique to me knowing the background of the author is that of a famous chef. Definitely have this book on hand in your classroom!
This is such a charming book. Tyler Florence, a Food Network star, finally writes for children, and people like me. He even includes his recipe for blueberry pancakes at the end of the book! The great thing bout this is that it isn't just a kids book per se it's an informational book as well. But it's not patronizing, and it tells children where the ingredients of the pancakes come from in a most delightful way. With introductions to the chicken who lays the eggs, to the farmer who milks the cow, and the man who gathers the syrup for the pancakes. All through the illustrations of Craig Frazier, who has what I would call a European flair. His style is clean, retro, and would be internationally recognizable, in beautiful blues and yellows.
Fun Fact: Tyler Florence, the author, is a world renowned chef, having had many Food Network shows and specials. I honestly did not catch that the first time I read this book.
Children get a simplified look into where food truly comes from with the help of his trusted, side-kick, best friend dog, Tofu. Very simplistic pictures make it accessible to the very young (pre-K -2nd grade). The dog adds the fun and comical element to this educational book to help keep the child's interest throughout the reading. Also, I am a huge fan of books that contain recipes because I believe that cooking by your parent's side is a very important part of growing up and learning: reading, mathematics, healthy eating, cooking and helps to build upon the relationship present already.
I love Tyler Florence, I love what he has done for children's food and education both at home and in the school systems. His education has been really a blessing to many and his cooking shows are humorous and make cooking fun and enjoyable, less than a chore. This book is cute and creative. It's like stick-figures with extreme personality and color and I like it. Take something like a pancake recipe and dissect it and explain visually for a kid what all the ingredients are and where they come from. It's a science project and a history lesson. I think that an entire series of these books from different simple recipes would be awesome.
Really, 3.5 stars. I liked this book much more than I thought I would. The story is simplistic and straightforward, but what I like is that it presents the concept of where our food comes from in an engaging way (albeit, slightly idealized). I like that the book ends with the recipe and even more information about the ingredients, such as nutritional benefits. I didn't love the artwork. The blue outlines around everything are distracting to me, but the overall composition was pleasing.
Not horrible, but in the grand tradition of most celebrity-written picture books, a bit didactic. The descriptions of where each pancake ingredient came from were a bit longer than needed in a picture book. And why, when Tyler asked where the chickens were, was he told to imagine? He got an explanation for everything else!
A cute story about a young boy named Tyler who goes on a quest to make pancakes. Along the way, Tyler learns a few things from Mr. Jones, the store owner. The illustrations are nice and follows the story line very well. The preschool kids were intuitive with a lot of discussion about the book during preschool storytime.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a cute book about where ingredient come from to make pancakes. You mean to tell me eggs don't come from the grocery store?? Cute and simple explanations about where thing come from like who eggs comes from the farm, maple syrups comes from tree etc etc
Celebrity chef Tyler Florence writes a picture book for little kids in which mini-Tyler makes pancakes, learning about where all of the ingredients come from, and including a recipe for Tyler's blueberry pancakes. Yummy and easy for the little ones to understand where their food comes from.
Follow Tyler and his lovable four-legged friend, Tofu, as they embark on a culinary adventure in Tyler Makes Pancakes! written by the Master Chef Tyler Florence with delightful signature illustrations by Craig Frazier. My full review at: http://bit.ly/RI2jnJ
Charming story about a boy wanting to make breakfast for his family. Loved the illustrations, especially his chef's toque. Nice education for kids on where our ingredients come from, and the recipe for the pancakes is included too!
A lot of complaints about this book when you read through the comments and reviews, but I liked it. I thought it was a cute book, even despite a few minor flaws relating to where food comes from. Still a cute book. And made me want to eat pancakes.
This book was really cute! It made me really hungry for pancakes with all the good illustration it provided! I think this book is good for children because it teaches them where we get are food and teaches them you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it!
Mill Valley chef and Food Network/kitchen store/restaurant guru Tyler Florence does kids picture books now. The text is great - I'm not sure the illustrations are right for the book, but that's my opinion.
Adorable. And hunger-inducing. Be sure to slot in time for a trip to the grocery store after reading this one, because you'll have to make Tyler's pancakes immediately afterward.