Huff & Puff by Claudia Rueda

 

Cooking Skill Level: SUPER EASY

 

So the book for this posting is Huff & Puff by Claudia Rueda.  The details about the publisher, etc. can be found in the table below.  This is a great story because it has a twist from the traditional ending and ample cues for huffing and puffing, but it offers an opportunity to EAT CAKE.

 

The premise is that we have the three Pigs (which each of my grandsons chose to portray) (complete with snorts). They each decide to build a house from a given building material.  And they are faced by [enter dramatic villian] the lung power of the Wolf.  This, of course, leads to various huffs and puffs, and if truth be told a bit of spit.

 

Here's our setting: 

Note the lovely celery tree sprouting from the lettuce hills.

 

To this we add a bit of mustard for future dipping, some carrot rounds, radish flowers, etc. as desired.

 

Next, the boys are given building materials.  They know what to do with them.  Trust me.  So they try to build a straw house, a stick house, and a brick house (cue the music).  They spend more time trying to blow them not only down, but across the table and onto Grummy's floor. The shrieks of laughter are all worth it.  And the experiment proves the tale's truth, the bricks held up.

 

 

But better than all that, is the fact that THIS 3 Pigs story ends with a cake for the Wolf.  So the boys got to decorate a single layer cake that I'd made and frosted for them.

 

I promised you some additional details about this book and the experience:

Title	Huff & Puff
Author	Claudia Rueda
Illustrator	Claudia Rueda
Publisher	Abrams Appleseed
Highlights /Tie in	Building Materials, cake for the Wolf
Reactions to the Book	·         We shall see
Meal	·         House 1  = Shredded Wheat ·         House 2 = Pretzel Sticks ·         House 3 = Ham bricks ·         Fruit and veg “decorations” for the houses ·         Lettuce bed for the lawn/building site ·         Cake (for the wolf)
Reactions to the Meal	·         I had shredded wheat in the most amazing places ·         They loved building walls with the ham bricks ·         The celery tree was a big hit with the littlest one.  Reminded him of another book we’d cooked.

 

It may take a bit before I have the pictures all together for the next installment of this blog, but I'm working on it.  I hope you enjoyed Grumm's Fairy Table.