Mr Wolf's Pancakes - Story Snug

Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley

Mr Wolf’s Pancakes is a fun and amusingย story to read on Pancake Tuesday. Mr Wolf is hungry and really fanciesย someย pancakes. But willย his fairytale neighboursย help him make them?

The Story: Mr Wolf has never made pancakes before. He asks his neighbours to help but they all refuse. Mr Wolf perseveres and reads the recipe, writes a shopping list and counts his money before making the pancakes. but when the neighbours smell them they all want to help him eat them. Mr Wolf invites them in but his unhelpful neighbours are in for a surprise!

Nursery rhyme and fairytale characters including Wee Willy Winky, Little Red Riding Hood and The Gingerbread Man refuse to help Mr Wolf. However, despite reading, writing and counting difficulties, Mr Wolf perseveres with his plan and succeeds. By the end of the story we’re feeling huge respect and sympathy for him although when his neighbours come to visit he comes up with a solution that is not entirely unexpected for a fairytale wolf!

There is wonderful humour in Jan Fearnley’s illustrations. The title of Mr Wolf’s recipe book makes us laugh and my daughter finds it funny that he tries to read it upside down. It’s fun to read the book titles on Mr Wolf’s bookcase and the signs on the shops with their references to various fairytale and nursery rhyme characters. 

We love the inclusion of the nursery rhyme and fairytale characters in the story and feel sorry for Mr Wolf when they don’t help him. Mr Wolf’s Pancakes often leads to discussions about why the neighbours didn’t help and what we would have done in Mr Wolf’s position. Would we have let the neighbours in to eat our pancakes even though they hadn’t helped us?

This is a great story to use in the classroom as part of a topic on food. Children can be encouraged to read pancake recipes, write their own recipes and describe their own fillings, count out the money that they will need for the pancake ingredients and then make their own. Reading the story aloud to a class can also spark off ideas about other characters that could be included in the story and I made a Mr Wolf’s Pancakes book with a group of children in which fairytale and nursery rhyme characters did help him. It was fun choosing characters for each job – instead of slamming the door in Mr Wolf’s face as he does in Mr Wolf’s Pancakes our Chicken Licken laid eggs for him to use in his recipe!

We hope that you enjoy your pancakes on Tuesday. We’ve included our favourite pancake recipe below ๐Ÿ™‚

Age Range: 3 +

Author / Illustrator: Jan Fearnley

We love this recipe for vegan, gluten free banana pancakes. They taste absolutely delicious! We make the batter using 150g gluten free flour (you can also use plain flour), 300ml soya milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder, a pinch of salt and two very ripe bananas. Whizz all the ingredients up in a food processor before frying the pancakes in sunflower oil. This recipe makes 12 small pancakes.

Mango and Bambang gluten free, vegan banana pancakes - Story Snug

Guten Appetit!


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40 responses to “Mr Wolf’s Pancakes by Jan Fearnley”


  1. RaisieBay avatar

    I love stories that make you think, have lots to find out, and give you options to get children to talk about what they would have done. I’m intrigued to find out what happened at the end. Your pancakes sound delicious. I’m going to try my first gluten free ones myself this year.


    1. Catherine avatar

      The story inspires so many fun learning activities ๐Ÿ™‚

      I hope you enjoyed your pancakes. We tried another gluten free recipe this year – buckwheat pancakes.


  2. Ruth avatar

    I love children’s books with humour! The pancakes look delicious.


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s an incredibly humorous story with a fabulous ending ๐Ÿ™‚


  3. Carol avatar

    Mr. Wolf is so cute dreaming of pancakes and learning to make them #MMBC


    1. Catherine avatar

      He’s not quite so cute at the end ๐Ÿ˜‰


  4. Jayne @ Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs avatar

    What a lovely book and a fab way to get kids involved in the kitchen. Your pancakes look sooooo yummy! ๐Ÿ˜Š


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a great story with a fabulous twist at the end ๐Ÿ™‚


  5. Kim Carberry avatar

    This book sounds perfect for tomorrow.
    We love pancakes here and the recipe sounds so good x


    1. Catherine avatar

      The recipe is really tasty ๐Ÿ™‚ Enjoy your pancakes tomorrow!


  6. Louisa avatar

    I want to get this book. I wonder if Mr Wolf will eat his neighbours! Thanks for the gluten free recipe, my brother will find that very useful #mmbc


    1. Catherine avatar

      The recipe is really yummy! I hope you enjoy the book, I’m not going to give away the ending!


  7. mummy here and there avatar
    mummy here and there

    What a perfect book to read tomorrow., I like the fact you had pancakes as well X #mmbc


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s the perfect picture book for Pancake Day ๐Ÿ™‚


  8. yvonne avatar

    Gosh my kids would love this, Mr Wolf and pancakes – what a combo! x #MMBC


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a great combination and I love the inclusion of all the well known fairytale characters ๐Ÿ™‚


  9. tracey at Mummyshire avatar

    I do like it when familiar fairytale characters are used in books and their stories developed.
    This looks like a lovely fun book & readable not only around pancake day!
    #MMBC


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a great story to read throughout the year ๐Ÿ™‚ I don’t know of many pancake day stories.


  10. Colette avatar

    What a lovely story! I’ll have to order this one ready for next year!
    Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a fun one for pancake day ๐Ÿ™‚


  11. Acorn Books avatar

    This is a great story, perfect for pancake day. I love all your ideas for related activities, the pancakes look yummy too #readwithme


    1. Catherine avatar

      This is one of those great stories that inspires a wealth of learning across the curriculum ๐Ÿ™‚


  12. Joanna avatar

    What a lovely book I’m looking forward to our pancakes later.


    1. Catherine avatar

      I hope you enjoyed your pancakes Joanna ๐Ÿ™‚


  13. BookBairn avatar

    So jealous of your pancakes!! And this book sounds great!! #readwithme


    1. Catherine avatar

      The pancakes are very easy to make ๐Ÿ™‚


  14. Sonia avatar

    Oh those pancakes look great, love the sound of the book too! My son would love it ๐Ÿ™‚


    1. Catherine avatar

      The pancakes are very tasty. The perfect accompaniment to the story ๐Ÿ™‚


  15. Yet Another Blogging Mummy avatar

    Mr Wolf was a firm favourite of my boys when they were younger, but I never came across this one. And great that you have a recipe to not have to worry about allergies for pancake day. I’ll be making the traditional variety tomorrow #readwithme


    1. Catherine avatar

      Enjoy your pancakes!


  16. chantelle hazelden avatar
    chantelle hazelden

    Mmmm pancakes, the perfect book to coincide with such a yummy day. Thanks for sharing with #ReadWIthMe


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a great book to read on Pancake Day but also for the rest of the year as well ๐Ÿ™‚


  17. Sarah MumofThree World avatar

    This sounds like the story of the hen who worked hard to harvest the wheat, grind it etc and nobody would help her, but they all wanted to help eat the bread!
    Thanks for the reminder that it is pancake day tomorrow!


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a similar story but the ending took me by surprise the first time I read it ๐Ÿ™‚


  18. Debbie Roberts avatar

    Hi Catherine, Mr. Wolf’s Pancakes sounds like a book that children can really get their teeth into and use their imaginations. Your banana pancake recipe sounds different, I’ve never strayed from the usual pancake batter recipe, but the addition of bananas would make the batter naturally sweet…

    Thank you for the reminder that pancake day is on Tuesday and for linking up with the #MMBC.

    XX


    1. Catherine avatar

      Allergies mean that we have to stay clear of eggs, gluten and milk but everybody in the family enjoys this recipe ๐Ÿ™‚


  19. Frances Brown avatar

    This is fun to read, catherine, thank you! I love that you included a tried and tested pancake recipe as well! ๐Ÿ™‚


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a really fun story Frances. With a bit of a twist at the end!!


  20. Dena @ Batch of Books avatar

    CUTENESS!!! Also, I have a bunch of friends that would love that recipe.


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a great recipe – really tasty ๐Ÿ™‚