The Guardian posts an article about Jane Brocket’s favorite food scenes from children’s literature. She lists her top ten, which include Pippi’s pancakes from Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking and Paddington’s “elevenses” (morning snack) from Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear.
Brocket has this to say about Jo snacking on apples in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women:
I maintain that there is a very close connection between eating and reading, consuming both food and the written word, that makes the marriage of the two activities quite heavenly. This means that there is nothing better than escaping from the world and holing up in a favourite reading-place with food and books to nourish the body and soul. So when I read about Jo, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on an old sofa, eating apples and crying over the Heir of Redclyffe, I immediately want to retreat to a quiet place, open my copy of Little Women and begin on a pile of crisp, russets to accompany my own reading and crying. It’s a perfect moment, and one which reminds me that the self-contained, easy-to-eat apple is perhaps the ultimate food to enjoy with books.
Read the full article here.
When I read the article I immediately thought of the series of books by Laura Numeroff, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. We enjoy the detailed illustrations and clever text, which show the various animals moving in quick succession from one event to another as they get distracted from the task at hand.
There was a sly imitation making the rounds on the internet, “If You Give a Mom a Muffin”, which took Mom from receiving the muffin, to “probably wanting a cup of coffee to go with it”, and then realizing that the coffee pot needed to be cleaned, which reminded her that the dishwasher needed to be emptied, glancing down and seeing a snagged fingernail that should be filed …. reminds me of some of my days!
Do you have any favorite food scenes to add to the list?
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