About the Holiday

If you love pancakes dotted with luscious blueberries then today is for you! Do you have blueberries in your freezer, frozen fresh from the summer harvest? Then this is the perfect reason to bring them out for a delicious breakfast! If not stop by a store and get a pint—pancakes are great for dinner too!

More Blueberries!

Written by Susan Musgrave | Illustrated by Esperança Melo

When the blueberries are ripe, the siblings in this adorable picture book live in a blueberry world. The brother and sister are all smiles with their bowl full of berries, and soon they have “Blueberry cheeks, blueberry chin. / Blueberry teeth, blueberry grin. / Blueberry fingers, blueberry nose. / Blueberry lips, blueberry toes.” Oops! After all that yummy, tasty blueberry gobbling, the bowl is empty, eliciting a call for “More Blueberries!”

Image copyright Esperança Melo, text copyright Susan Musgrave. Courtesy esperancamelo.blogspot.ca

The scrumptious berries find their way into pancakes, muffins, mush, and slush, ice cream, cake—and even cause a bit of an ache. But with a small burp, the cry goes out for MORE BLUEBERRIES! The kids aren’t the only ones who love the season’s fruit—a cat chases them as they roll away, and a cawing crow carries one in its beak like the finest of pearls.

Frogs hop on blueberries with a pop and a splat while teddy bears gulp them down in no time flat. “Meow,” says the cat. “Caw,” says the crow. “Ribbit,” says the frog, and “Grrrrrrr,” says the bear as they all shout for MORE BLUEBERRIES!

Image copyright Esperança Melo, text copyright Susan Musgrove. Courtesy of Orca Book Publishers

But the day is waning and while bath time beckons there’s still more time to turn bathwater blue, sail berries in a tug, wash with blueberry soap and blueberry shampoo. Finally it’s nightime with “Blueberry jammies, / blueberry yawn. / Blueberry bedtime, / blueberries gone.” As the little girl and boy drift off to sleep to dream about blueberries, they snuggle with their teddy bear and froggy toys, leave their crow book until tomorrow, and sleep peacefully under the watchful eye of their cat.

Image copyright Esperança Melo, text copyright Susan Musgrave. Courtesy of esperancamelo.blogspot.ca

Susan Musgrave’s irresistibly catchy rhymes burst with flavor and will make More Blueberries a favorite story time read for young children. The repeated “blueberry” (such a wonderfully alliterative word!) will capture kids’ imagination and give them the pleasure of reading along even at very early ages. Beyond the fun of the blueberry theme, this book makes an entertaining concept book to teach parts of the body, food, and clothing.

Esperança Melo’s endearing illustrations perfectly depict the messy, delicious, enthusiasm small children develop for certain foods or objects. The sister with her curly mass of brown hair and her brother with spiky blond hair are human canvases of blueberry-painted faces, hands, and feet while their infectious grins display stained teeth and tongues. Their household surroundings are appropriately blue, and even their pets and toys get in on the action.

More Blueberries would be a sweet addition to any child’s book shelf, one that is sure to be asked for again and again!

Ages Birth – 4

Orca Book Publishers, Board book, 2015  ISBN 978-1459807075 | Paperback, 2017 ISBN 9781459815056

Visit Esperança Melo’s website to view her illustrations and paintings portfolio!

To learn more about Susan Musgrave’s books for children and adults visit her website!

Blueberry Pancake Day Activity

Flip for Pancakes Word Search Puzzle

Flipping pancakes is the best part of making this delicious breakfast—except for eating it! Can you find 20 pancake-related words in this printable Flip for Pancakes Word Search Puzzle? Here’s the Solution.

Picture Book Review