PANCAKES AND SOCKS

A child bored of breakfast raids the families’ wardrobes for ingredients in this rhyming picture-book mashup of food and fashion.

The narrator, one of three siblings, is tired of his morning culinary routine. Instead of lumpy oatmeal, he opines, “I’d rather eat thread.” Soon, the narrator is making breakfast himself, placing “earmuffs and yam” and “pancakes and socks” in front of his younger sisters. Though both girls protest, the narrator is sure these combinations are a hit; he plans to feed all the family’s pets such unique mixtures and dreams of starting a food stand. When Mom and Dad find out, however, the result is banishment to his room; later, Mom has a creative ingredient of her own for lunch—a clever twist that makes the silliness come together to satisfying effect. Michaels’ scansion is smooth, and the rhymes are solid; occasional challenging vocabulary words (such as ratatouille) make this a good choice for confident emergent readers or lap listeners. (One wishes that the narrator avoided using the ableist term lame to describe the oatmeal, however.) Barabash’s cartoonlike humans and blurry-edged backgrounds match the chaotic action of the text. But although the paintings capture the narrator’s enthusiasm and other characters’ vivid disapproval, even the illustrator’s bright colors can’t make the narrator’s food choices look appealing.

A recipe for giggles with an ending that offers just deserts.