The Great Pancake Escape By Paul Many. Illustrations by Scott Goto Walker, NY, 2002 ISBN 0-8027-8795-9 A Los Angeles Times Best Children's Book of 2002      "You will believe that pancakes can fly!"   Reviews, Awards and News! Reviews, Reviews and More Reviews: "A rhythmic, rip-roaring romp" In his first picture book, Many (My Life, Take Two, etc.) cooks up a humorous rhyme about a magician who bungles breakfast. When he uses the wrong cookbook (it's really a book of tricks), the pancakes take on a life of their own and the three children help chase the fugitive flapjacks as they roll right into town. Lush brushstrokes and shadowy images create drama as Goto's (Shoeshine Whittaker, 1999) full-bleed illustrations chronicle the action....A rhythmic, rip-roaring romp. (Picture book. 5-8) -Kirkus Reviews "This fun-filled tale will become a story-time favorite" Dad, a magician, cooks up some strange pancakes for his three children when he accidentally uses the wrong book to make the batter. The pancakes spring to life and off they go with the children in hot pursuit...The rhyming text, which appears to float across the page inside tan-colored pancake shapes, is clever and funny, but Goto's wonderfully twisted illustrations steal the show. They depict all the wild antics in surreal double-page spreads filled with outrageous expression and bizarre angles and perspectives. This fun-filled tale will become a story-time favorite. -Booklist (American Library Association) "An attractive addition to the canon of lively food tales" What do you get when you mix together a magician father who loves to make breakfast, a bunch of hungry kids, and a recipe from a book of magic? Pancakes that jump off the griddle and run out the door!....[Using] expressive and luminous illustrations...Goto tells the visual story from a multitude of angles and vantage points to keep things interesting and rolling along. Children will enjoy spotting renegade pancakes as they make their getaway by disguising themselves as traffic lights, Rollerblade wheels, Frisbees and other circular objects...an attractive addition to the canon of lively food tales. - School Library Journal "A surrealistic mealtime adventure" Magical pancakes create a surrealistic mealtime adventure for three children and their magician father. Stories about food are always a favorite for preschoolers and early elementary school children, and this is no exception... this story will hold most attention spans and there are many activities that could surround the book. A nice companion to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, this could be included in a unit about food, magic, or nonsense stories. The detailed illustrations are colored in muted tones, adding to the veil of mystery and magic. -Children's Literature "Employs rhythmic, playful verse" After a magician father bungles breakfast, magical hotcakes lead three hungry children on a wild chase in this rhyming tale of pancake pursuit...The children (and readers) spot the fleeing flapjacks posing as manhole covers, dog frisbees and wheels on in-line skates, and at one point, in an apparent nod to Magritte, they serve as umbrellas for some bowler-hatted citizens...In his first picture book, YA novelist Many (These Are the Rules) employs rhythmic, playful verse (the cakes take wing and become "batter-flies" at one point)...Uneven type enclosed in blobs of batter reflects the frenzy, as do Goto's (Heat Wave) dizzying close-ups." -Publisher's Weekly "Fun for all" Readers will love reading about the errant pancakes and love the over-the-top illustrations. Fun for all." -Ohioana Quarterly "A Great Read Aloud" Illustrations are big, bold and really make this a great read aloud. Third graders loved it. -South Sound Book Review Council (Washington State) Awards and Distinctions Los Angeles Times Best Children's Book of 2002 From thousands of children's picture books published, The Great Pancake Escape has been selected by the book editors of the Los Angeles Times as one of nine "Best Children's Books of 2002." Reading With Rachel Featured Book The Great Pancake Escape has been selected as a featured book in the statewide "Reading with Rachel" program in South Carolina. Books in the program are read by First Lady Rachel Hodges of South Carolina on her weekly radio program carried on public radio stations all over the state. Thanks to Walker & Co., 200 copies of The Great Pancake Escape are donated for distribution in the state. Update: Governor Hodges was not reelected but latest information is that the former first lady plans to continue the program although it may not be broadcast. Press Coverage from All Over "Isle artist adds subtle local images in 'Pancake'" (No byline) Feb. 16, 2003 Honolulu Star-Bulletin: Shows how illustrator Scott Goto has slipped Hawaiian imagery into his illustrations for the book. "Many Happy Returns: UT professor translates angst into humor" By Julie Jardine, Dec. 26, 2002 Toledo City Paper: Biographical piece on author. Some discussion of how "The Great Pancake Escape" came to be. "Pancake Idea Sizzles Into Children's Book by UT Professor" By Erica Ryan, Nov. 18, 2002 UT News: Article in the in-house newspaper of the University of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio) in which the author notes where he got the idea and some of the rigors involved in writing the book. "'Pancake Escape' illustrations fun, full of island sites" By Jolie Jean Cotton, Aug. 4, 2002, The Honolulu Advertiser: In this piece, illustrator Scott Goto discusses the Hawaiian influences for many of the illustrations he used in the book. All artwork on this site ©2002 Scott Goto  Return to main pancake page.  Return to Paul Many home page.