Book Review
by Kathy Porter
Laura Numeroff created classics with her trio of “If You Give A..” books. Felicia Bond sealed the deal with her adorable mouse, pig, and moose illustrations. Even though I chose “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”, I highly recommend the other books as well.
As a teacher, I quickly picked up on the cause-and-effect theme in the story: “If you give a pig a pancake, she’ll want some syrup to go with it. This starts the ball rolling with more cause-and-effect antics until they go full circle back to the pancake. For instance, the sticky syrup causes her to want a bath with bubbles and a toy duck. The effect is that it makes her homesick for the farm. Next, she will want other things that continue the cause-and-effect theme until the end of the story.
My favorite part is when she finds tap shoes under the bed and wants to dance. The illustration of the pig in a sweater sporting a sunflower is precious, especially with the joyful expression on her face as she taps away. Felicia Bond captured the moment with her delightful illustrations.
Have fun with the game and reading the book. You can find it at your local library on the N shelf in the Picture Book section. To buy this book on Amazon, click here.
Activity
This theme gave me the idea to create four more characters and antics patterned after the book. Putting the pictures together to create silly sentences helps the children learn more about cause and effect. The cause is that you give the character something in a certain place, and the effect is that he will want something to go with it. For example: If you give a unicorn a smelly sock in a castle, he’ll want some ketchup to go with it.
Supplies:
Free Activity Sheets, Scissors, Crayons or Markers
Directions:
- Cut out and place all the cards in four separate piles according to their
category.
Example: Place the four cards that begin with “If you give a...” in a
separate pile, then the cards with a place in another pile, and so on.
- Randomly choose one card from each pile and place them in a row.
- Read the sentence aloud. Example: If you give a dragon a sandwich in a spaceship, he will want some noodles to go with it.
- Put them back into their piles and mix up each pile. Choose another set of cards and read the next sentence.
Repeat until you
have four silly sentences.
Different Variations:
- For Younger Children: A caretaker or older sibling can read the cards to a preschool child.
- For Older Children: Turn each card over and draw pictures of their choosing to make more silly sentence options.