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Pancakes to Parathas: Breakfast Around the World
A Northern Lights Book Award Winner!
Sakura Medal 2021 Nominee!
Breakfast varies from country to country, but it's how all children begin their day. Explore the meals of twelve countries in this playful approach to the world!
From Australia to India to the USA, come travel around the world at dawn. Children everywhere are waking up to breakfast. In Japan, students eat soured soybeans called natto. In Brazil, even kids drink coffee--with lots of milk! With rhythm and rhymes and bold, graphic art, Pancakes to Parathas invites young readers to explore the world through the most important meal of the day.
Sakura Medal 2021 Nominee!
Breakfast varies from country to country, but it's how all children begin their day. Explore the meals of twelve countries in this playful approach to the world!
From Australia to India to the USA, come travel around the world at dawn. Children everywhere are waking up to breakfast. In Japan, students eat soured soybeans called natto. In Brazil, even kids drink coffee--with lots of milk! With rhythm and rhymes and bold, graphic art, Pancakes to Parathas invites young readers to explore the world through the most important meal of the day.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published February 5, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 17, 2019
Very interesting look at breakfast around the world!
February 15, 2019
What a fun way to introduce geography and cultures to young readers!
February 27, 2019
Detailed illustrations explore breakfast traditions around the world. The rhyming text occasionally stumbles, but overall, this is a fun and engaging way to learn about multiculturalism.
March 6, 2019
It's a travel book, no, it's a cookbook, it's a poetry book. Well, it's actually all those things "melted" into one lovely book that makes mouths water and educates all at the same time. Breakfast starts everyone's day and Alice McGinty has written (cooked up?) a multi-cultural feast of what children eat in the morning all over the world. Ending with the USA and, maybe, pancakes but not always, she journeys around the world starting with Australia and the much-loved there, not so much here, vegemite spread on toast. From China, a dish I'm not sure I knew the name of, Ci fan tuan, but I've had at restaurants comes big balls of sticky rice loaded with pork and pickled vegetables. Yum! Then, we're traveling on to The Netherlands to eat toast with chocolate sprinkles. While it's different in each country, children manage to have a good bit of food to get them ready for school!
Alice has written snappy, appetizing rhymes to introduce the food, then added a brief paragraph of the name, how to pronounce it, and what it is. "Breakfast in Jamaica/is yellow like the sun./Cornmeal porridge, thick and sweet,/Come and get it, everyone." Sometimes extra information is added, like in Japan children wear yellow caps so they can be easily seen by drivers on the streets. And she explains 'rashers' and 'bangers', and what 'soldiers' are for breakfast in the UK.
Tomoko Suzuki's double-page filled-to-the-brim graphic pages add to the joy of breakfast starting the day. There is food, of course, but also background geography of gardens and cities, and the people, too, eating together.
Added is a double-page map of the world that shows each dish and the location of its country of origin. It would be delicious fun to research more countries and create some of these dishes in a classroom. For older kids, to ask the question of "why?" these dishes have become native to the country would be fun, too. One year, my class visited different cultural supermarkets here, sampled some foods, bought others to cook back at school. It was a marvelous experience.
Thanks, Alice and Tomoko for a wonderful book.
Alice has written snappy, appetizing rhymes to introduce the food, then added a brief paragraph of the name, how to pronounce it, and what it is. "Breakfast in Jamaica/is yellow like the sun./Cornmeal porridge, thick and sweet,/Come and get it, everyone." Sometimes extra information is added, like in Japan children wear yellow caps so they can be easily seen by drivers on the streets. And she explains 'rashers' and 'bangers', and what 'soldiers' are for breakfast in the UK.
Tomoko Suzuki's double-page filled-to-the-brim graphic pages add to the joy of breakfast starting the day. There is food, of course, but also background geography of gardens and cities, and the people, too, eating together.
Added is a double-page map of the world that shows each dish and the location of its country of origin. It would be delicious fun to research more countries and create some of these dishes in a classroom. For older kids, to ask the question of "why?" these dishes have become native to the country would be fun, too. One year, my class visited different cultural supermarkets here, sampled some foods, bought others to cook back at school. It was a marvelous experience.
Thanks, Alice and Tomoko for a wonderful book.
May 17, 2021
Each spread includes colorful illustrations of breakfast food from one country, a four-line poem about breakfast, and a 1-paragraph description providing more details. The dozen countries included are arranged from east to west, Australia to the United States, as the rising sun travels. Great introduction a the topic. World map and country flags also included in same bold colorful style.
February 15, 2019
I'm hungry.
February 26, 2019
I learned a neat-o fact on nearly every single page AND had breakfast for dinner five times in a row thanks to this devious little culinary delight. HAGLESLAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
September 1, 2019
This is a rhyming picture book about breakfast eaten around the world. Lovely book about the diversity of food cultures in different countries.
December 8, 2019
3.5 An interesting introduction to breakfast food around the world.
December 7, 2020
While trying to be inclusive, reading this feels very skewed toward American sensibilities in the way foods are described. And the United States gives many options, where as many other countries make it seem like everyone eats those one or two things.
February 25, 2019
Cultural food.
March 22, 2019
A wonderful international look at how kids start their day with bright, engaging art and an informative and fun narrative. It’s a treat about what we eat!
May 18, 2019
I love books like this that show a snapshot of lives around the world. This one focuses on breakfast in various countries. The text is told in a rhyming narrative, with a paragraph that goes into more detail on the opposite page. The pictures include famous landmarks, the breakfast food, and multiple families in the mornings. While the focus is on breakfast, there are other bits of cultural trivia as well-- such as Japanese children walking to school in yellow hats to increase their visibility to motorists. Beautiful colorful illustrations, informative text, great springboard to researching food and recipes ( I already looked up Jamaican cornmeal porridge!) Not a great text for read-aloud but great for smaller group or individual exploration.
December 15, 2020
A survey of what kids would typically eat for breakfast from 12 different cultures, in an order that follows the sunrise around the Earth. The main text is simple and in rhyme, with optional additional information in a side text box for those who want to know more.
A nice survey of some different breakfasts. I like the multiple text levels, so this can be a quick read for the youngest readers, or a little longer reader for kids with the ability to pay attention a bit more. The illustrations are done in an attractive style. I like that the further text often includes other common breakfasts to show that no culture ever eats exactly the same thing every day. A nice choice for multicultural studies or classrooms.
A nice survey of some different breakfasts. I like the multiple text levels, so this can be a quick read for the youngest readers, or a little longer reader for kids with the ability to pay attention a bit more. The illustrations are done in an attractive style. I like that the further text often includes other common breakfasts to show that no culture ever eats exactly the same thing every day. A nice choice for multicultural studies or classrooms.
September 24, 2020
A book that educates with its content and entertains with its illustrations!
This is a fun book that gives a sneak peek into ‘’Around the World Breakfast Cuisines’’. It explores the meals of 12 Countries and makes the kids feel amazed.
Alice B. McGinty’s expressive rhyming content helps kids understand the described cuisine in detail and Tomato Suzuki’s double page bright illustrations adds a magic to their understanding of not only the cuisines but also the culture of that specific Country.
Must Read book for kids of age 4-8 years.
This is a fun book that gives a sneak peek into ‘’Around the World Breakfast Cuisines’’. It explores the meals of 12 Countries and makes the kids feel amazed.
Alice B. McGinty’s expressive rhyming content helps kids understand the described cuisine in detail and Tomato Suzuki’s double page bright illustrations adds a magic to their understanding of not only the cuisines but also the culture of that specific Country.
Must Read book for kids of age 4-8 years.
July 18, 2019
Food. Glorious food. I want to teach kids all about food in different cultures and so....I did this book in storytime. Surprisingly, the kids responded to it more than I anticipated!
Many different countries and regions of the world are represented. There is India, Australia, England, Israel, and of course the USA. It was informative, even for me, to see what they eat. What would I be brave to try?
(The kiddos voted for The Netherlands and chocolate sprinkles on buttered bread ;)
Many different countries and regions of the world are represented. There is India, Australia, England, Israel, and of course the USA. It was informative, even for me, to see what they eat. What would I be brave to try?
(The kiddos voted for The Netherlands and chocolate sprinkles on buttered bread ;)
February 24, 2019
Breakfast is my favorite meal & I do the best I can to be a global citizen...so was kinda disappointed with how this book felt like it was going for shock factor/grossing out non-Western kids with what's eaten around the world :-/
February 24, 2022
Fun look at the very various breakfasts from around the globe.
As an intermittent faster and vegan I can not say that anything here would ever persuade me to give up my current lifestyle, though I do miss Indian parathas but no longer eat them as they are made with white flour and that also went out of my diet along with sugar when I decided I needed to overhaul my entire eating and exercise regimes.
As an intermittent faster and vegan I can not say that anything here would ever persuade me to give up my current lifestyle, though I do miss Indian parathas but no longer eat them as they are made with white flour and that also went out of my diet along with sugar when I decided I needed to overhaul my entire eating and exercise regimes.
August 16, 2020
Simple verse introduces readers to different breakfast options across the world. While the U.S. of A. Had several choices for breakfast, the other countries had one. I doubt they all have a lack of options and it would have been interesting to see other cultural foods other than ones that had an easier rhyming sequence.
October 29, 2020
Heavily rhymes quatrains introduce the breakfast food if each country. What is odd is that one kind of food goes with each country, which seems really odd in places like China, India and Brazil. The US gets more of a selection on its page. It’s a fun picture book but I’m not sure I trust it’s culinary facts.
April 9, 2019
A look at a variety of breakfasts around the world. One note of caution with “around the world” books is the danger of a single story. There are popular foods in each country featured, but the options certainly vary from family to family, and from traditional to modern.
June 17, 2019
Great illustrations and a fascinating look at what people eat for breakfast around the world. This book made me hungry! Vegemite on bread, bread and butter with chocolate sprinkles, parathas in India so many good things to eat.
March 8, 2020
I read this book. I read lots of children's books, and I don't review them here. But this one made me really happy. I got some new ideas for breakfast. Iearned a lot that I didn't know before. Cheery art work. Win win. Recommend. Gonna go make myself some Jamaican cornmeal porridge this week.
September 28, 2020
Everybody loves breakfast! This was a fun look at the different foods and customs for breakfast in different countries around the world. It covered Australia, China, Japan, India, Israel, Nigeria, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico and USA.
April 1, 2022
This was an excellent extension to our world geography and culture studies, and it made us hungry! This book has bold and colorful illustrations, rhyming prose and interesting information about many different foods a family may enjoy for breakfast around the world.
March 25, 2019
Picture Book - EL ED 340
Such a fun book and very informative. A little long for a read-aloud, but perfect for a classroom library or social studies project.
Such a fun book and very informative. A little long for a read-aloud, but perfect for a classroom library or social studies project.
July 22, 2019
Man, did this book make me hungry. Great illustrations and an interesting look into my favorite part about culture, food!
November 18, 2019
Readers will love this global food exploration. Alice McGinty's text is as lively as the illustrations. Add this title to your nonfiction picture bookshelf.
January 9, 2020
Made me hungry!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews