Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day) is next week, traditionally the day when eggs, butter and milk were used up before the beginning of Lent. These days it usually means a mad dash to the local shop for eggs and lemons so that you can enjoy the evening eating burnt batter, scraped off the ceiling or floor (or both shhhhh!). Not for us this year! We have been getting into the pancake spirit early, inspired by a rich and delectable story, Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley. Bring it on!
Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley stars the delightful Mr Wolf and he is hungry. He fancies some pancakes but he has never made pancakes before. He looks in his recipe books but he isn’t very good at reading so he decides to seek the help of his neighbours. Now, we all know that wolves get quite a bad press where fairy tales are concerned but Jan Fearnley cleverly wins us over so that we are rooting for Mr Wolf by the time Chicken Licken slams the door in his face.
Poor Mr Wolf. He has to sit down on his own and read his book very slowly to work out which ingredients he needs.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any of the ingredients in his cupboard, so he decides to write a shopping list. Again, Mr Wolf has trouble with his list so he calls on Wee Willy Winky for help, only to have the door slammed on his pointy wolf nose.
Mr Wolf sits down and with effort and perseverance he writes his shopping list. He seeks the help of the Gingerbread Man to count out his money but the grumpy Gingerbread Man is no help to Mr Wolf. Similarly, when he calls on Little Red Riding Hood to borrow her basket he gets sent on his way with a flea in his ear.
Despite his unhelpful neighbours Mr Wolf makes it to Old Mother Hubbard’s General Store and he purchases his ingredients without a worry.
When he gets home he realises he isn’t very good at cooking so he asks the Three Little Pigs for help. Their rude remarks make Mr Wolf so sad that he even sheds a tear.
Mr Wolf shuffles home and gets started on his pancakes, all alone. The delicious aroma coming from Mr Wolf’s kitchen is hard to resist and soon the greedy neighbours come knocking on Mr Wolf’s door. They are so eager to come in that Mr Wolf can hardly refuse.
Once they are all inside Mr Wolf struggles to fight his wolfly instincts and you can imagine what happens next!
The story is utterly brilliant for young children. it is a tale full of repetition, familiar characters, stunning illustrations filled with wonderful details and Mr Wolf is easy for young children to relate to (he finds writing, reading and counting a bit tricky and he also loves pancakes). The whole act of shopping, cooking and eating is easily identifiable for children too. It gave us wonderful opportunities to write a shopping list, count, remember ingredients and we enjoyed cooking and eating our pancakes too! I don’t know when the coffee table will ever return to its original use but at the moment it is permanently set up as Old Mother Hubbard’s shop and we have made an area in the kitchen for Burt to make his own pretend pancakes. Talk of pancakes is likely to go on around here way beyond Shrove Tuesday, which won’t help abstinence during Lent!
Talk about
Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley allowed us the chance to think about Shrove Tuesday, what the day signifies and also the situations Mr Wolf faces. We made easy three ingredient pancakes, just like Mr Wolf, and cut the shapes of characters out of the batter so we could gobble all the neighbours up ourselves!
Here are some ideas or questions that you might want to use to start a discussion in your family. You know your family and which questions they are ready to tackle now and which can be left for another day:
- What is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day?
- Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. What is Ash Wednesday?
- Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. What is Lent?
- Why do you think that Mr Wolf’s neighbours wouldn’t help him?
- What do you think Mr Wolf’s neighbours could have done to help?
- If you didn’t have anyone to help you, would you carry on all by yourself, like Mr Wolf?
- Do you think that Mr Wolf’s neighbours deserved what they got in the end?
- If you were Mr Wolf would you share your pancakes with the neighbours?
Crafts and activities for kids
The opportunities for play and crafts from Mr Wolf’s Pancakes are fantastic. You can play shops, write a shopping list, count money, cook pancakes and observe them changing from liquid to solid, you can even eat the results! We had lots of fun with this book.
Have a look at the Pinterest Board full of crafts and activities for kids…
or take a look at these activities to accompany reading the book:
- Read and Create Mr Wolf’s Pancake Recipe
- The Crazy Kitchen Vegetable Pancakes
- A Bavarian Sojourn Buttermilk Pancakes
- Thinly Spread Savoury Pancakes
- Cakes Photos Life Chocolate Pancakes
- Me and My Shadow Pea and Ham Fritters
- Here Come The Girls Snowman Pancakes
- Boo Roo and Tigger Too Black Cherry Pancakes
- Domestic Goddesque Toffee Apple Pancakes
- Life at the Zoo Kids Pancakes
- Actually Mummy How to Make Pancakes
What have you been reading this week?
I love the sound of Mr Wolf’s Pancakes and am really intrigued to know what happens at the end of the story
What a great book! I love the illustrations too. How sweet that the tables are turned and Mr Wolf isn’t the bad guy here!
Thanks for including my recipe. x
Liz Burton recently posted…The Best Things About Little Winter Adventures
What a fab story! My kids are excited for pancake day too! Already arguing over who’s pancake filling is the best! *sigh*
Love the book! Beautiful illustrations. I’m not so good at pancakes either - mine always end up like scrambled eggs!
Mary Keynko recently posted…Bedtime Stories
What lovely illustrations, I loved books like this when mine was that age, so well drawn. These are the books you’ll want to keep and pass on to future generations (by then they probably won’t have books anymore!!)
Hellie’s Corner recently posted…Tunisian Egg Tagine
This looks like a lovely book - and thanks for the reminder to make pancakes too! Double good!
Mammasaurus recently posted…Celebrating International Women’s Day by sharing a inspiring woman
My three year old requested pancakes for breakfast this morning so this would be a perfect book for her! Thank-you!
Alice recently posted…The Trouble With Bread And A Wheat Intolerance
This sounds like a story that we would enjoy! I’ve not seen many books about pancakes before. I will look out for that one! Thank you
What a lovely book! I’ve not seen this one before - thanks for including our recipe round up post
Actually Mummy… recently posted…Wot so Funee? Ex-pat Aunty
Oh I love that this book has a different take and Mr Wolf is not the bad guy. I can’t wait for pancake day, Amy will love it x
PS: I’ll be back with a review next week. Life was a little hectic x
Carolin recently posted…Activity sheet Farm Bingo - learning about farms
Don’t worry Carolin. It is lovely to see your reviews and I know that half term puts a spanner in the blogging works. Getting a post out this week has been a challenge!
Looks like I missed this one… sounds like a fantastic book
Agata Pokutycka recently posted…Review – Pure Chimp Super Cream
Aw it looks like a lovely book, and thanks for the reminder about pancake day!
This would be the perfect book to read in the run up to Pancake day, I have a feeling every time Roo read it she would as Mr Boo for pancakes
Boo Roo and Tigger Too recently posted…Miles Kelly Little Press Storytime series
how beautifully illustrated and the story sounds brilliant x
Cakesphotoslife (Angie) recently posted…What goes on His in head!!
I’m so glad you reminded me about Pancake Day. This looks like a fab way to get kids excited about it - I especially like the idea of them writing a shopping list.
Kriss MacDonald recently posted…The Castle in the Field by Michael Morpurgo
That looks like a great book! My son is already getting excited about Pancake Day, I bet he’d love it
Kate Williams recently posted…St Patricks Day Card
What an adorable book!! I want a copy!
What a lovely looking book Kirsty! I love the idea of getting kids to think of putting together a shopping list and remembering ingredients.I hope you get your coffee table back soon.
Aly recently posted…#Firstday- What Did Your Midwife Do That Made Sure Your Baby Had A Second Day?
This book looks brilliant. Beautifully illustrated and will help engage little ones in the excitement of Pancake Day. Love the way you’ve asked questions at the end of the post too, great for book clubs
MrsShilts recently posted…The week where a lot of good stuff happened!
Well you know we’re fans of Mr Wolf already! I do like these books, illustrations of great and they have a kind of Roald Dahl feel to them which always appeals.
Ben recently posted…Happy 4th birthday Bracken
This post is fantastic. I love the sound of this book and the questions you’ve thought of to go with the book are just what my boys need. Thank you.
pinkoddy recently posted…Longer School Hours Shorter Holidays What a Relief
What a lovely looking book! The illustrations are stunning. I haven’t seen ANY advertising over here about pancake day, so I’m wondering if it’s something they even acknowledge in Oz. Love all the ideas for things to do relating to it, thank you for the reminder!
Cute book and perfect for pancake day coming up! I like the illustration of him writing his shopping list. just shared a linky too x
Lori recently posted…DIY BATH BOMBE CRAFT KIT
Thanks so much for joining in.
Piwimama says
Mr Wolf looks like a lot of fun and would definitely appeal to my DDs! thanks!
Thanks for including mine Kirsty! I love that book, what beautiful illustrations too!
Emma recently posted…Expat Essentials – 3 – Chinese Pancakes.
This sounds like a fab book, I feel quite sorry for Mr Wolf and would like to know what happens at the end.
Pippa Ainsworth recently posted…Our Zack and Quack Party with Nick Jr and UKMums.tv
I love the sound of this book - I am sure Little Miss would enjoy it. It sounds like a great take on the traditional tale.
Rollercoaster Mum recently posted…How does Grandma’s Garden grow? the Winter Edition