[BOOK REVIEW] Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Pancakes for Breakfast

Author:  Tomie dePaola

Genre:  Food / Comedy / Wordless / Winter / Pets

Year Published: 1978

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

You know, I have been reading Tomie dePaola’s works ever since I was a child and out of all of those works, I had never once read a book of Tomie dePaola’s that was…WORDLESS!  Now, I have been reading many wordless picture books for ages, but I never knew that Tomie dePaola wrote a wordless picture book called “Pancakes for Breakfast” which was indeed his first wordless picture book!

The story starts off with an old woman waking up from bed, along with her dog and cat and she wanted to make a nice batch of pancakes for breakfast.  So, the old woman went to her kitchen to get the ingredients she needed for the pancakes, but she realized that she did not have any eggs for the batter.  So, she goes out to the barn to get some eggs from the chickens and after she got the eggs, she realizes that she does not have any butter for the batter.  So, she goes outside to milk her cow and create the butter with the milk she churned from the cow and after she made the butter, she realizes that she does not have any maple syrup!  So, she goes to her neighbor’s house to get some syrup and just as the old woman got all the ingredients to make her pancakes…

Does the old woman finally get the chance to eat her pancakes?

Read this book to find out!

Wow!  For a wordless picture book, this was some pretty impressive work from Tomie dePaola, especially when you are so used to Tomie dePaola’s works having text to narrate the stories!  Tomie dePaola’s artwork really sold this story as it shows how an old woman wanted to make pancakes for breakfast, but keeps on forgetting the essential ingredients to make her pancakes such as milk, eggs, butter and syrup.  It was cute seeing the old woman try to obtain the ingredients for the pancakes in many different ways such as milking her cow to get the butter and milk, getting eggs from her hens and getting syrup from her next door neighbor as it gives the story an old fashioned and traditional vibe that really made this story stand out from the other modern day stories about obtaining ingredients for a recipe.  I also loved the images of both the dog and the cat as it was adorable seeing them accompany the old woman in her need to obtain the ingredients for her pancakes.

Overall, “Pancakes for Breakfast” is a truly cute story about an old woman trying to find the right ingredients for her pancakes that many readers, who had to go through the same experience, no matter how differently they went about it, would definitely relate to! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[BOOK REVIEW] Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story

Author:  Tomie dePaola

Genre:  Mexico / Fairy Tale / Retelling / Folktale

Year Published: 2002

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons       

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Child Mistreatment)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story” is a Mexican retelling of the classic fairytale, “Cinderella” retold by Tomie dePaola and it is about how a poor yet beautiful young woman named Adelita has to suffer the cruelness from her stepmother Senora Micaela de la Fortuna and her two daughters Valentina and Dulce until one night, Adelita hears about the fiesta that the rich family, the Gordillos, were having and she tries everything to go to the fiesta and see the Gordillos’ handsome son, Javier.  “Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story” is truly one of the most memorable retellings of “Cinderella” ever told!

Out of all the versions I have read of the classic story of “Cinderella,” this was the first time that I have heard of a Mexican version of this classic tale and therefore, it made this book extremely unique from all the other fairytale versions I have ever read.  Tomie dePaola has truly done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book as the story is extremely heartwarming and dramatic at the same time.  When I was reading this book, I can actually feel sympathy for Adelita’s predicament as she is treated cruelly by both her stepmother and her stepsisters and I think that many children would feel sympathy for her too.  I also loved the way that Tomie dePaola puts various Spanish phrases in the book such as “Hace mucho tiempo” and then explaining the phrase in English like “Hace mucho tiempo – a long time ago” and what made the Mexican language much easier to understand is that Tomie dePaola provides a glossary at the end of the book detailing the translations of each Spanish phrase.  Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are much more beautiful in this book as all the characters look realistic and fluid.  The illustration that stood out the most for me was the illustration of Adelita herself as she has long black hair and beautiful dark eyes and also Tomie dePaola provides the perfect Mexican atmosphere in his illustrations by drawing images of Mexican styled houses.

“Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story” is truly one of the best retellings of “Cinderella” I have ever read since it deals with Mexican culture and is a retelling of an old fairy tale, so children who love Mexican folktales and fairytales in general will definitely enjoy this book!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the Spanish language might be a tad bit too confusing for smaller children to understand.

[BOOK REVIEW] Strega Nona Meets Her Match by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Strega Nona Meets Her Match

Author:  Tomie dePaola

Genre: Humor / Competition / Italy / Folktale

Year Published: 1993

 
Year Read: 1996

Series: Strega Nona #5

Publisher:  Puffin

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Strega Nona is back again and this time she faces her biggest challenge yet… Strega Amelia! Tomie dePaola did an excellent job on both the illustrations and the story and therefore, makes “Strega Nona meets her match” an instant treat.

Tomie dePaola’s storytelling is clever and funny as he details Strega Nona’s efforts to get her job back from Strega Amelia. Also, the storytelling gets extremely hilarious when Big Anthony tried to do everything right for Strega Amelia, but ends up running all the machines backwards and ruining Strega Amelia’s chance for a profitable business. Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are also the highlights of the book as he comically illustrates the Mayor’s predicament when Big Anthony tried to cure his headache, but ended up making the machine malfunction.

“Strega Nona meets her match” is a wonderful story about peer pressure as Strega Amelia tries to get the townspeople to use high-tech products for fixing their problems over Strega Nona’s old-fashioned remedies. However, when things go wrong at Strega Amelia’s clinic, the townspeople realize that sometimes it is better to just stick with the old and simple techniques than try out new techniques that they have no control over. “Strega Nona meets her match” is a wonderful classic that both children and adults will cherish for many years because of its clever humor and its even more clever storytelling.

[BOOK REVIEW] The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola

Title:  The Clown of God

Author:  Tomie dePaola


Genre: Religion / Drama


Year Published: 1978


Year Read: 2010

Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Depiction of Death)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Clown of God” is an Italian folktale retold by Tomie dePaola, famous for his “Strega Nona” books.  This book is about how a young boy named Giovanni becomes a famous juggler all around Italy while learning the true meaning of spreading happiness around the world.  “The Clown of God” is a truly touching story that children will love for many years.

Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book about the true meaning of spreading happiness.  Tomie dePaola’s writing is much more serious and dramatic in this book than in his “Strega Nona” series as he discusses the matter of religion and about the poverty that Giovanni has to go through in his life.  Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at creating sympathy for the main character Giovanni as he goes through poverty after his parents’ death and suddenly becomes a famous juggler after his special abilities are discovered and Giovanni’s touching story will help many children realize that everyone has a special ability that can bring happiness to other people if they care about the impact that their special abilities will have on the world.  Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are much more beautiful than in his “Strega Nona” series, especially as he draws the characters’ expressions in a realistic way and the characters are drawn in a more fluid manner as the characters appearances are so smooth.

Parents should know that the ending of this book is a bit sad as it deals with the death of a person.  I will not reveal who dies at the end of the book, but the idea of death presented in this book might frightened smaller children and parents should explain to their children about the issues of death before they read them this book.

“The Clown of God” is a truly heartwarming and touching story about the importance of spreading happiness around the world and many children will enjoy this book’s message about true happiness.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the sad ending and the religious theme might confuse smaller children.

[BOOK REVIEW] Big Anthony and the Magic Ring by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Big Anthony and the Magic Ring

Author:  Tomie dePaola


Genre: Humor / Folktale / Romance


Year Published: 1979


Year Read: 1994


Series: Strega Nona #2

Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Kissing, but nothing more)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads
 

I have been reading the “Strega Nona” series ever since I was a child and I have enjoyed the series ever since! Now, I have read the sequel to “Strega Nona,” “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” by Tomie dePaola and it is just as hilarious as the first book! In this tale, Big Anthony gets into big trouble when he messes with Strega Nona's magic ring in order to have a little night life! “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” is an instant treat for children young and old!

Oh my goodness! I never would have thought that the sequel to “Strega Nona” would be so hilarious! Tomie dePaola has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book and I thought that Tomie dePaola's writing is beyond hilarious! I always loved the way that Big Anthony always seem so forgetful whenever he is doing work for Strega Nona, but whenever he comes to discovering one of Strega Nona's magical objects that might benefit him and he has to recite a chant to activate the magical object, he can really memorize those verses! I also loved the way that all the women in the village square started chasing after Big Anthony once he became “handsome” since it was so hilarious at seeing Big Anthony being chased by all the women of the village! I loved the way that Tomie dePaola incorporated various Italian words and phrases into this story such as “caro” and “un momento” into this story as it truly gave this story an Italian flare and it really helped me understand about the Italian language. Tomie dePaola's illustrations are extremely hilarious and my favorite illustrations were of Big Anthony turning into a handsome man as he truly looked like a prince that came out of fairy tales as his brown and unattractive shoes becomes beautiful tall boots and his mattered blond hair becomes elegantly combed out.

Overall, “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring” is a brilliant book for fans of the “Strega Nona” series and for children who enjoy reading Italian folktales. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might have trouble understanding the Italian language used in this book.