***Pancake Dreams

by Ingmarie Ahvander

Pictures by Mati Lepp

Translated by Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard

Reviewed June 17, 2003.
R & S Books, New York, 2002.  28 pages.
Available at Sembach Library  (E AHV).

I especially liked this book, because this week my kids’ Swedish-American grandparents were visiting.  They are the ones who introduced me to Swedish pancakes, which is what Pancake Dreams is about.

“Stefan has a grandma called Elsa.  She lives in Sweden, but Stefan now lives in Jordan, far away from there.”  Stefan is terribly hungry for Grandma’s special pancakes, different from anyone else’s.  He thinks of Grandma, and he thinks of her pancakes.

One day, his family buys some flat bread in a big box.  Stefan decides that that box would be just perfect for pancakes.  They send it to Sweden along with Aunt Martha, with directions inside for Grandma to fill it with pancakes.

The idea is good, but how will Grandma send them to Sweden?  If she mails pancakes, they would be moldy before they arrived.  So she places an ad, and finds a traveler willing to carry a box of pancakes to Jordan.  The box loses a pancake in customs, but eventually makes it safely to Stefan.  I should warn you that this isn’t a book about sharing, but it is a delightful story about a boy, his Grandma, and some wonderful pancakes.

Copyright © 2003 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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