The Biggest Breakfast, written and illustrated by Richard Jones, reviewed by Pippa Goodhart

 

This beautiful new (hardback) picture book from Richard Jones is a simple joyful story of animals and food, giving and receiving. And counting. But the counting, if you want to engage with it, comes in doublings of numbers to dramatic effect.

The child narrator meets a little blue bird, and offers crumbs to be pecked from a hand. 'See you tomorrow'. And next day the bird is joined by two mice. The day after that, by four squirrels. And soon the breakfast feast is getting out of hand with increasing numbers of wolves and elephants and puffins and ring-tailed lemurs and round-bellied frogs in a glorious gate-fold -

It's all a bit much, so, next day, the child stays in bed, wondering, 'Who will make breakfast for ME?' Just then there was a knock at the door ... '  And you can guess who come, delivering '1 huge, ginormous, delicious breakfast!'