Don't Forget the Bacon!
LC Class | 75017935 |
Don't Forget the Bacon! is a children's book written and illustrated by
In an analysis of teaching tools for remedial readers, Maurice Saxby notes in the book Books in the Life of a Child: Bridges to Literature & Learning, "Hutchins's Don't Forget the Bacon has been one of my most successful texts." Andrea Hillbrick's Tuning in with Task Cards includes a teaching lesson structured around the boy's shopping list from the story. The book Foundation Blocks suggests Don't Forget the Bacon! be used to teach children about the concept of
Don't Forget the Bacon! was a success in England and the United States, and received positive reception from the American Library Association, and The Washington Post. The story was recommended in 2005 as part of a children's reading challenge announced by the Education Minister for New South Wales, Australia, and included in suggested reading by The Times as part of the 2008 recognition of World Book Day.
Plot
A little boy leaves his home with his dog to shop for food items for his mother, and attempts to remember the list of things she wanted him to buy. The original request from his mother is "six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears, and don't forget the bacon". Along with the dog, he is accompanied by a butterfly. In order to avoid forgetting items, the boy recites his mother's list to himself. Throughout his trip to the grocery store, the boy sees things along the way that play tricks with his memory, and items on his list one-by-one become substituted with other goods. For the first item, "six farm eggs" becomes "six fat legs", then "six clothes pegs". The second one, "A cake for tea" becomes "a cape for me", then "a rake for leaves". Finally, for the third, "a pound of pears" becomes "A flight of stairs", then "a pile of chairs". By the end of his trip, the boy has forgotten the initial items requested, and supplants them in his mind with "six clothes pegs, a rake for leaves, a pile of chairs, and don't forget the bacon". Then he goes to the junk shop and says to a merchant there, "six clothes pegs, a rake for leaves, and a pile of chairs please!". Before the boy is about to buy the six clothes pegs, the rake for leaves, and the pile of chairs, the merchant gets confused from the boy's grocery list (requested by his mother). The merchant in the junk shop, he then assists the boy in completing the odd list.
The merchant knows that the boy was given a correct list, but it was "six clothes pegs, a rake for leaves, and a pile of chairs" that the boy asked for instead. While traveling back to his home, he remembers the original items (on his and his mother's grocery list). After he remembers the original items that his mother requested, he corrects his mistakes while traveling back home. Then on the way home, he says to himself, "Six farm eggs, a cake for tea, and a pound of pears". After saying that, he is content that he has remembered those three items. However, he has forgotten the bacon. At that, he says out loud, "I forgot the bacon!", and his mother gasps out loud.
The final page depicts the child carrying a basket and a coin purse, taking his dog attached to a leash on a trip to get the bacon.
Themes
In his work Best Books for Beginning Readers, Thomas G. Gunning places Don't Forget the Bacon! within the themes of utilising humor in the learning process with children.
Books including Belair Early Years: Stories,
Background
Pat Hutchins was born 18 June 1942.
Publication history
Don't Forget the Bacon! was published by
Reception
Don't Forget the Bacon! became a successful book in both England and the United States;
Michele Landsberg, author of Reading for the Love of It: Best Books for Young Readers noted in an article for The Washington Post that Pat Hutchins is "best known" for her "witty picture books", including Don't Forget the Bacon!.[32] In 2005, New South Wales, Australia, Education Minister Carmel Tebutt announced Don't Forget the Bacon! had been included as part of "Premier's Reading Challenge", under the section, "The 2006 Challenge Book Lists: Years K-2 Challenge".[33] In 2008, Elizabeth McFarlane of The Times included the book in a list of works recommended to encourage children's reading skills for World Book Day.[34]
See also
- Children's literature criticism
- List of children's classic books
- List of children's literature authors
- List of illustrators
- List of publishers of children's books
Endnotes
^[A] Secondary source references consulted to assist in summarising information for Plot section include Brodt 1987,[35] Elleman 1976,[30] and McElmeel 1990.[20]
References
- ISBN 978-0-205-26784-2.
- ^ ISBN 1-86366-788-1.
- ^ ISBN 1-887943-28-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-7507-0813-1.
- ISBN 0-7329-4520-8.
- ISBN 1-86366-748-2.
- ISBN 0-8264-4840-2.
- ISBN 0-415-32070-4.
- ISBN 0-947882-47-2.
- ISBN 978-1-55138-250-0.
- ISBN 1-86509-908-2.
- ISBN 1-4129-3764-7.
- ISBN 0-89334-097-9.
- ISBN 0-87659-228-0.
- ISBN 978-1-4129-4049-8.
- ISBN 0-673-36000-8.
- ISBN 0-439-20154-3.
- ^ "Author – Pat Hutchins". Author Extras. HarperCollins. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
- ISBN 0-304-32772-7.
- ^ ISBN 0-87287-827-9.
- LCCN 75-17935
- LCCN 77-13096
- ISBN 978-0-415-42479-0.
- OCLC 9016468
- OCLC 149134584
- OCLC 319500298
- OCLC 547192948
- MediaNews Group. 27 January 2003.
- ^ Adele Pentony (21 November 2003). "Tales of tailcat make children smile". Greater London, Kent, and Surrey Counties Publications. Newsquest Media Group Ltd.
- ^ a b Barbara Elleman; Capsule reviews prepared by the American Library Assn. (3 September 1976). "About Books: A Funny Book Is Not So Hard To Find". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. p. 13.
- ^ Joan Coley (24 August 1982). "Children: See Dick and Jane Read". The Washington Post. p. B5.
- ^ Michele Landsberg (5 November 1989). "All in the Family". The Washington Post. p. 23.
- ^ Carmel Tebutt (27 November 2005). "Love of books a lifetime gift: minister -Premier's Reading Challenge". The Sun-Herald. Sydney, Australia: John Fairfax Publications Pty Limited. p. 1; Section: Supplement.
- ^ Elizabeth McFarlane (6 March 2008). "Leave it to Captain Underpants – Parents". The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. pp. 2, 10, Section: Features.
- The Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
External links
- Don't Forget the Bacon!, HarperCollins