No, David by David Shannon

Cooking Skill Level: Easy

We ran into a glitch this time.  I got a call this afternoon, after I’d prepped and photographed the story menu for today.  It was my daughter saying it had been a rough week (it was Monday, shortly after 2pm, so I decided not to ask for details) and could we do the dinner another night.  That wouldn’t be a problem normally, but this is Thanksgiving week and I have a lot of baking and cooking and visiting to do, so we agreed to a Contingency Plan.  The upper case is important.  That’s how the boys will know that this is Serious Business. 

They’ve been looking so forward to this book since it arrived with the other Scholastic books and I can’t make it over to visit them until Friday, and the dinner I made today won’t really last that long.  So, Contingency Plan to the Rescue. 

The boys will find Grummy’s Basket (are you catching on to the Important Words here?) on their front porch tomorrow around lunch time.  I’ll drop it off while the younger two are napping so there’s no prolonged greeting or farewell and hiding of Grummy’s keys.  I’ll include the book, and a drawing of the instructions. 

 

 

 

The vocabulary in this book is pretty much “No, David” … there are a few other words, but really, that’s almost the entire thing (except for the Very Important Last Two Pages ….) and I think the kindergartner can actually pick out the words himself.  So he’ll be charged with reading to the boys while their Momma sets up the meal.  I’ll include a drawing of the instructions for her as well.

 

 

One of the best drawings in this book is a picture of David with a mouth full of food … a Wide Open Mouth Full of Food.  I know the boys will howl at that one.  So I decided to make little Davids and fill the mouths with chicken stew.  This is a whole lot easier than it sounds.

I started with some small rolls from the bakery section of my local grocery store.  From the picture, you can see that they’re about 3 ½ inches in diameter.  They actually look like miniature boules, the kind you hollow out and fill with spinach dip.  I did the same hollowing out, cutting the top and just pulling the guts out with my fingers.  I kept the bread “lid” in case the boys want to try eating this like a sandwich hidden in a roll (I think their Momma will say No Boys to that one) (but I won’t be there). 

 

Next, I made some chicken stew-like filling.  I used cooked chicken tenders, pulled/chopped into good sized pieces, some tiny broccoli florets, lima beans, corn and green beans (these vegetables are in the picture in the book). 

 

 

 I added a tiny bit chicken gravy (from a jar). I’ll send the gravy with the meal so that my daughter can add more if the boys want it.  Using the rolls like those bread bowls you get at some restaurants, I filled it up to the top with the stew mixture.

 

 

I added carrots, cucumbers and ricotta and Cheese Medallions (cheese sticks cut into ‘coins’, but the boys think they’re very special cheeses that only Grummy can find, hence the upper case).

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For dessert, we look back to the book.  David gets in trouble writing on the wall.  So the boys will have graham crackers (walls) and crayons/pens (icing tubes).  They can decorate as much as they want.  Just a little tip about those icing tubes … don’t cut off the tip to open them; just pierce the tip.  Less gel will come out with a squeeze and it will cut down on some of the mess.

 

Since I won’t be there to see the reactions, you may have to wait until their next sleepover (Friday) to get details from me.

 

Title	No, David
Author	David Shannon
Illustrator
Publisher	Scholastic
Highlights /Tie in	David’s mouth full of food, writing on the wall
Reactions to the Book	·
Meal	·         Tiny bread bowls (rolls) with chicken stew in them  to look like David’s full mouth ·         Graham cracker “Walls” and gel icing tubes to write with
Reactions to the Meal	·