Don't Forget the Bacon

by Pat Hutchins

A little boy goes grocery shopping for his mother and tries hard to remember her instructions.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Storytime, Humor, Family, Peer Review

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Pat Hutchins is an English illustrator and writer of children's books.

She won the 1974 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. The work was The Wind Blew, a picture book in rhyme which she also wrote. It shows how "a crowd of people anxiously chase their belongings" in the wind.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

omg so funny
Anyone young or young-at-heart can empathize & enjoy.
(Honestly, though, if the kid can't read, draw the items on a pictorial list at least.)
Enjoy the old-fashioned illustrations, too, if you can check this out before your library weeds it.)

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun concept, but a bit dated unfortunately.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all forgotten a list or two in our time (like yesterday at the supermarket!), and our young helper has all the same problems. Words that sound the same, with a bit of a distraction and it all gets mixed up. Kids will identify with the forgotten list - though alas perhaps not with being allowed down the street on their own.

Would be good fun to follow a class read with the game Shopping List.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

With his basket on his wrist and his dog at his side, a little boy is sent to the store. Saying the list over and over, the words sort of gets jumbled-mumbled up, except for 'don't forget the bacon'...yet, when the right words come back, the most important item is left behind.

Used for "Cheep, Oink, and Moo: Chicken, Pork, and Beef" storytime-April, 2010.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I llllllllllllloooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeee BACON SSOOOOOOOOOO MUCH AND MY TEACHER KNOWS THIS BOOK IS A EASY BOOK BUT IT IS FUNNY AND IT REMINDS ME OF MY TEACHER AND WHY SHE ASKS ME TO REMEMBER THINGS

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids try so hard but those memories can fail! 😀

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

What can happen when a mother sends her kid on a simple errand to purchase "Six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears", and, of course, bacon? Quite a lot can happen, as we find in this book. The plethora of distractions swirling through the streets and stores in town and all the way there are more than a match for our young protagonist, trying to keep straight the order specified by Mother back at home. But is it six farm eggs his mother wanted, or six fat legs? A cake for tea, or "a cape for me"? It doesn't take more than a moment or two before our lead character is too crossed up to even know where to shop to pick up the right items.

Pleased in the belief that the entire order has been remembered correctly, and ready to head home from the furniture store trailed by a helpful employee loaded up with "six clothes pegs, a rake for leaves, and a pile of chairs", our hero suddenly recalls what was actually supposed to be purchased, while passing by a fruit stand (for the pound of pears), a bakery (for the cake for tea) and a produce man (selling the six farm eggs). Now our goodhumoredly scattered lead has all that's necessary to bring home in exchange for a pleased, proud mother...but wasn't there a little something more that was supposed to be picked up on the way? An item more important than the pears, cake and eggs put together?

This book is comically endearing and fun to read, author/illustrator Pat Hutchins doing what she does best. I would for sure give one and a half stars to Don't Forget the Bacon!, and almost rounded it up to two. For longtime fans as well as those first being introduced to Pat Hutchins's iconic work in the picture-book medium, this story is bound to provide several laugh-out-loud moments.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very fun book.

[Lagobond · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm... I was excited to read this because the premise sounded amusing, but I'm not impressed. It feels dated, and not in the charming or timeless way that some kids' books* do. Chaotic illustrations in a cold and jarring color scheme. The best thing here is the dog chasing the butterfly through the book. And did the people with the "fat legs" all have to be women?

* See Eve Titus' Anatole series, or Holling Clancy Holling's Paddle-to-the-Sea, or Goodnight Moon

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: Six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears, and don’t forget the bacon.

Premise/plot: Originally published in 1976, Don’t Forget The Bacon chronicles a young boy’s trip to and from the store. Will he remember everything on his mom’s list?

My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this one. It is both predictable and delightful. I didn’t love, love, love the illustrations. Probably they date the book more than anything else. But the text is timeless and classic.

Text: 5/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Total: 8/10

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Pat Hutchins' funny kids book, a boy is told by his mom to get six farm eggs, a pound of pears, yadda yadda, and don't forget the bacon. The poor kid has a bad short term memory, for he seems to remember what rhymes with eggs and pears, while managing to remember the bacon. Then he somehow backtracks, gets the stuff he's supposed to.... Only....where's the bacon! Read it to kids and hopefully they'll have a few good belly laughs.
Three stars
Hutchins brings home the bacon...and some smiles!

[FM Family · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Chimpanzees for Tea and thought "this is a rip off of Don't Forget The Bacon". Then I read the goodreads reviews of Chimpanzees for Tea and thought "yeah! Don't Forget the Bacon is better!" Then I read Don't Forget the Bacon and I was like...meh.

I remembered this book from when I was a kid and I guess the concept is good and funny but for some reason none of us in the family really cared for/about it. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it is a classic. I just felt lukewarm about it.

[Abigail Mayeske · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was too cute! I really enjoyed how he saw things that rhymed with what he needed and that is what he remembered. This would be a cute way to brainstorm solutions, and go through the steps of problem solving to see how he could remember the items he was supposed to purchase. The illustrations were very colorful and eye-catching.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mother sends her son to the market to purchase four things - the last being bacon. The boy immediately gets mixed up because of things he sees along the way and head back with nothing he was sent for. Then he thought of them in reverse. Funny story for children to see how things sound the same and distraction can get in the way. Great illustrations.

[Sue Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this is lovely....it's a bit like passing a whispered message around a circle to see how it changes through being misheard and misinterpreted. A little boy is given a shopping list by his mum, as he recalls it, he mistakes one item for another rhyming word....'six farm eggs....six fat legs....six clothes pegs......and don't forget the bacon!' I love it!

[Beth Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going to the grocery store can be hard for a child. This book is cute, it helped my students rememeber what the mother told the little boy. This is a great book for putting the items that the little boy needs in order. Throughout the book you can recall what the mother said. A nice book for comprehension and retelling.

[Ame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book about a kid struggling to remember his momma's grocery list

[Jack & Lily Wills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book - the kids would appreciate it more when they're older!

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably funny.

[Chrysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was so cute. Funny too. Well worth a read with your little ones.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun for young children learning about shopping, and noticing peculiarities along the way!

[Audrey Widjaja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, even if we try to remember the instructions, our memory changes by seeing other things. Guess, that's what a memo made for.... hahhahaa

[Magdalena Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the repetition and the story overall.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly, fun book!

[Michelle Glenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice repetitive rhyming book, however the flow of the book is a bit dry.

[Scott Cahalan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an OK book. I think children will appreciate it more when they are a little older.

[Frances Coe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good memory book in the style of Chinese whispers!

[Pamela Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but charming story of a young boy who is sent to the market to pick up four items but gets sidetracked as he travels.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for children. They will love to try and remember what they are supposed to remember and correct the main character.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like everyone can relate to this story - a mother has asked her son to go to the shops and has given him a shopping list. To remember it, he repeats it out loud, however he soon starts to mix up some of the words with other words that rhyme with the original word. By the end he finally remembers the shopping list, but he forgets the bacon!
I think children would love this book due to the repetitiveness and the rhyming. Could discuss with children what each thing could be changed to next and discuss words that rhyme.
I would use this book in an early years or ks1 classroom and probably as a whole class text.
Throughout this book, i was also reminded of games such as Chinese whispers where it is almost guaranteed that what is said would have changed by the time it reaches the end.