Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lively cooking story whipped together with fun food info.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Tyler dreams of pancakes, and when he wakes up, he decides to surprise his mom and dad by going off on his bike with his trusty dog, Tofu, to get the ingredients at Mr. Jones' market. Mr Jones then explains where all the ingredients come from -- eggs from chickens on a farm, buttermilk and butter from cows, blueberries from bushes, flour from wheat that grows \"in flat places like Kanasas,\" and maple syup that comes from trees \"way up in Vermont.\" Mr. Jones also explains how these things are collected or harvested at the source and brought to the grocery store. Back home, Tyler follows the recipe step by step and serves his parents a breakfast feast. The actual recipe and some fun food facts follow on the last pages.
Is It Any Good?
This book is fun and engaging all the way through, with wonderful stylized art that uses thick blue lines to outline each person, plant, animal, and thing. Tyler is a clothed stick figure with a big round head and winning personality. Other people are more fleshed out. The lessons about where food comes from and how it gets from farm to table are seamlessly woven into the story of a curious boy on a mission to cook one of his favorite meals and give his parents a nice surprise.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about where food comes from. Do you know where meat comes from? How about fish? Pizza? Bananas? Coconuts? Artichokes?
What looks fun about cooking?
What favorite meal would you like to learn how to cook?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Craig Frazier
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Cooking , Animals , STEM
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperCollins Children's Books
- Publication date : April 24, 2012
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 40
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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