The opportunities for play and crafts from Mr Wolf’s Pancakes are fantastic. You can play shops, write a shopping list, count money, cook pancakes and observe them changing from liquid to solid, you can even eat the results! We had lots of fun with this book. Once they are all inside Mr Wolf struggles to fight his wolfly instincts and you can imagine what happens next!

Mr Wolf’s Pancakes – Jan Fearnley Text: Mr Wolf’s Pancakes – Jan Fearnley

Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley allowed us the chance to think about Shrove Tuesday, what the day signifies and also the situations Mr Wolf faces. We made easy three ingredient pancakes, just like Mr Wolf, and cut the shapes of characters out of the batter so we could gobble all the neighbours up ourselves! When he gets home he realises he isn’t very good at cooking so he asks the Three Little Pigs for help. Their rude remarks make Mr Wolf so sad that he even sheds a tear. Poor Mr Wolf. He has to sit down on his own and read his book very slowly to work out which ingredients he needs. Mr Wolf sits down and with effort and perseverance he writes his shopping list. He seeks the help of the Gingerbread Man to count out his money but the grumpy Gingerbread Man is no help to Mr Wolf. Similarly, when he calls on Little Red Riding Hood to borrow her basket he gets sent on his way with a flea in his ear.

Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day) is next week, traditionally the day when eggs, butter and milk were used up before the beginning of Lent. These days it usually means a mad dash to the local shop for eggs and lemons so that you can enjoy the evening eating burnt batter, scraped off the ceiling or floor (or both shhhhh!). Not for us this year! We have been getting into the pancake spirit early, inspired by a rich and delectable story, Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley. Bring it on! Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any of the ingredients in his cupboard, so he decides to write a shopping list. Again, Mr Wolf has trouble with his list so he calls on Wee Willy Winky for help, only to have the door slammed on his pointy wolf nose.