Independent Reading Level: Grades Pre-3
Awards: No award ( )

Jack wants a pancake for breakfast, but first he must gather all the ingredients. He mills the grain, milks the cow, churns the butter, builds the fire, etc. Finally, his mother makes the pancake. Now, Jack knows exactly what to do.

By cutting and grinding the wheat for flour, Jack starts from scratch to help make his breakfast pancake.

Eric Carle lays out all the work that goes into making a pancake starting with cutting wheat in the field up through churning butter and finally ending with a big bite. (Thankfully, we don't have to stick around for Jack's visit to an outhouse a few hours later.)

It's educational and fun, with bright illustrations and some animal sounds thrown in. ( )

I've been reading Carle my whole life, but only turned this up on OpenLibrary today, and it's easily my favorite Carle work to date. All the details of how to get from growing wheat and milking a cow to eating a pancake. Excellent - and the recipe for the pancake is there too, though it's an unleavened pancake. ( )