Maine Humanities Council, Born to Read, Booklists

Crepes by Suzette by Monica Wellington. (2004) Ages 3-7 Suzette sells crêpes in the streets of Paris (maps in the endpapers show her route). Each of Suzette’s customers—a mailman, a dancer, a painter—is insprired by a real work of art. Includes a list of the paintings and artists alongside a glossary of French words and a recipe for crepes.
Hey, Pancakes! by Tamson Weston, illus. by Stephen Gammell. (2003) Ages 4-8 Three rambunctious kids take over the kitchen to make a pancake breakfast. They make an incredible mess, but have a lot of fun in the process-and the language in the book is also a lot of fun! It even includes a basic pancake recipe with a note reminding cooks to wash their hands.
If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff, illus. by Felicia Bond. (1998) Ages 3-7 Like the other books in this popular series, a simple gift to an animal results in an endless list of requests. In this case, both child and animal are female; the girl pig is rather vain!
Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin, illus. by Julia Cairns. (2005) Ages 4-8 Mama Panya is afraid that she won’t have enough pancakes for everyone, but her son Adika’s infectious generosity guarantees that there’s enough to go around. The back pages of this book include a map of Kenya and a glossary of Kiswahili words.
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola. (1978) Ages 2-6 Like Jack, this pancake lover starts from scratch collects eggs, milks the cow, churns the butter, and visits the maple farm for syrup...but a calamity forces her to alter her plans before she is finally rewarded with pancakes! Wordless except for a pancake recipe and a proverb.
Pancakes for Supper! by Anne Isaacs, illus. by Mark Teague. (2006) Ages 4-8 This variation on the Little Black Sambo story is set in an American forest, where Toby fends off animals by giving them her warm clothes. She is down to her long johns when the animals start to bicker, chasing each other around a maple tree so quickly that they turn into “a golden-brown puddle,” which the tree promptly soaks up and turns into syrup for pancakes.
Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle. (1970) Ages 4-8 Jack helps to make a pancake from scratch: grinding the wheat for flour, milking the cow, etc.
The Runaway Tortilla by Eric Kimmel, illus. by Randy Cecil. (2000) Ages 3-7 One variation on the pancake is the tortilla. In this Southwestern version of a the Gingerbread Man, a tortilla runs away from Tía Lupé and Tío José, who want to serve her up at their taquería.

You can download the booklist as a pdf.

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