Reviewed by Dannielle Viera
Plum worries that she’ll never be adept at anything. Her big brother is ‘good at climbing’, but she falls with a thud. Her other brother is ‘good at painting’, but she makes a big mess. One day, Plum hears a delicious sound. She chases it to a cave, where Old Panda is playing a piano. She begs Old Panda to teach her how to create the music that ‘feels cosy and comforting’ like a stack of ‘fluffy pancakes’. With plenty of practise, Plum is soon ready to give her first concert.
Rae Tan’s simple story of self-discovery will delight kids aged three to eight who are preparing to probe their potential. But it’s more than just figuring out their skills – they need to embrace what their heart flips over, ‘like pancakes on a hot pan’. Rae emphasises the importance of working hard and overcoming obstacles, inspiring young readers to keep trying until they achieve their dreams.
Watercolours and pastels skate across Rae’s illustrations, etching emotion into every spread. The anthropomorphised pandas are adorable, with engaging expressions that children will find easy to read. Perhaps the most eye-catching element in the book is the representation of musical notes as discs that resemble pancakes. When Plum starts to play the piano, the circular notes are small and dull beige. But as she gets better and better, they become larger and begin to glimmer gold.
Oozing maple-syrup sweetness, Pancakes for Plum is reminiscent of an old Asian folktale but filled with contemporary insights. Children will return to the story again and again whenever they need encouragement to follow their hearts.
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