While browsing at the bookstore the other day I came across this funny book! I was not familiar with the author Josh Funk, but now I want to read all of his books!
Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk has me hooked!
This book is so much fun- your students will 💜 it! The story is written in rhyme, which your students will notice right from the beginning.
The setting of the story is a refrigerator! Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast go on quite the adventure to try to be the first one to get to the last drop of syrup.
There are so many places to pause in the story to really get students engaged. You could ask students whether they like or have tried the various foods in the story… things like brussels sprouts, chickpeas, tofu, brie (Miss Brie), linguini, beets, etc.
I also love the way that the author uses the items in the refrigerator for other purposes. Celery used as a ladder, lettuce leaf parachute, rappelling down a rope of linguini… you could encourage your students to come up with some ideas of their own of things in the refrigerator that could be used in other ways.
The author’s word choice is in this story is fabulous. Your kids will learn new words in a fun context. Be sure to stop and discuss the words Josh Funk uses as you read.
A few examples of vocabulary to point out…
conversed, plummeting, rappelled, bleak, vaulted, slathered, reemerged, legumes, aghast, sneer,
Josh Funk also has two other books about Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast. Books 2 and 3 would be great to add to a mystery book unit!
Book # 2 is called The Case of the Stinky Stench
Book #3 is called Mission Defrostable
Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast would also work well as a springboard to an opinion writing activity.
After reading, you could have your students write about whether they would choose pancakes, french toast, or waffles (another character in the story is Baron von Waffle) for breakfast.
I have included an OPINION WRITING activity page you could use with the story- click here to grab it for FREE!
If you have not read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett to your students- that would be a great book to read as a follow-up to this story. It would provide a good opportunity to compare the two books, noting similarities and differences.
If you are looking for any additional opinion writing prompts- you might want to check out the following resources:
Hope you have a great and productive week!
