Mama Panya's Pancakes

One of the kid's favorite books this last month was Mama Panya's Pancakes.  This delightful book followed a boy and his mother as they left for market to buy ingredients for pancakes.  The peek into Kenyan village life was so engaging.  At the end of the book, it gave more information on what life is like in rural Kenyan villages.  We ended up going out and having races as the children love to do!

And of course, we had to try the recipe in the back of the book and make some of our own "Mama Panya" pancakes. 

I pride myself on being a fairly good cook.  Apparently when it comes to making crepe-style pancakes that does not hold true...

Here was my first attempt. (Talk about humbling...  It's not good when your four year old is looking quizzically at the blob and trying to imagine a pancake.)

The third and fourth attempt only marginally improved...

By this point the boys were getting anxious and excited when I finally figured out how to make them.  They eagerly prepared the mix-ins -frozen peas (a favorite of theirs and one of the few veggies I happened to have on hand that day), diced up meatballs, tuna and sliced bananas.  (Our favorite combination was the banana's + pancakes.)

Ever have that day where nothing really turns out as planned?  As if my failed attempts at pancake making weren't enough, when it was served, anticipation soon turned to this:

As you can see, we still need some work on doing all things without grumbling/whining and complaining... :)

Mama Panya's Pancakes weren't our only favorite.  Here are a few more from our explorations of the African Savannah!

We All Went On Safari ~ All three of the boys enjoyed this journey!  We discovered a bit about different animals in the Savannah.  This book was perfect because it had something for everyone.  Xander (6.5yo) loved trying to learn how to count to 10 in Swahili.  Keegan (4.5yo) enjoyed learning about the animals and trying to figure out which child pictured was counting.  Treyton (2.5) enjoyed working on some of his counting skills and trying to hide his favorite animal with his grubby little fingers!  In addition to the rhyming/counting section of the book, there was background information given on the Masai people and the animals.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain ~ The boys adore this book.  We found it a garage sale and they were thrilled to discover that they didn't need to part with this book when everything else went back to the library.  This is another book that explores the animals of the Savannah.  The boys all loved practicing standing like the Masai herdsman.  It was fun to reinforce the same topic from different angles!

This Is the Tree ~ This is a book that delightfully illustrates the importance and majesty of the baobab tree.  As I mentioned previously, Keegan (4.5) was quite taken with this wonderful tree and its role in this region of the world.

My Rows and Piles of Coins ~ This was a tear-jerker (for mom).  The boys were immediately drawn into the story of a boy who saved the coins he received from helping his mother in hopes of buying a bicycle.  It was a great way to segue into a discussion on poverty and how differently most of the world lives.  With renewed gratefulness they went out and rode their bikes afterwards.

Beatrice's Goat ~ This was another wonderful book that beautifully communicated the high value of much less.  It is about the transformation of one family's fortune after receiving the gift of a goat.  For those that like to donate money towards buying livestock for those in third-world countries, this will help your kids understand what an impact that can have on a family and a village.

Honey... Honey... Lion! ~ This tale is just a whole lot of fun.  My children love everything they've read by Jan Brett and this book was no exception.  They've already asked if we could check this book out again!

Jubela ~ Another tear-jerker (for mom) with a happy ending about the rare occurrence of a baby rhino who was adopted by an older female.