The Birthday Cake

Sven Nordqvist creates his stories in an amazingly alive world, filled with multiple layers. The cat Findus is the perfect animal representation of the children listening to/reading the story, and the kindly but occasionally grumpy Pettson is of course a great parent figure. He doesn't keep his house particularly tidy, frequently gets caught up in dealing with urgent demands (chickens, cows in the garden, etc), but ultimately does do the important things, like make food for Findus. Sounds like a lot of parents I know! Little details make Pancakes for Findus a delight for adults and children. As you read, you start noticing other things -- like the chicken paramedics carrying away one of the broken eggs! This isn't really the first book in the series. Findus and Pettson have an earlier incarnation as Festus and Mercury (Mercury being the cat), published by Carolrhoda Books. They're even funnier!

This book also goes by the title The Birthday Cake. Our family reads a lot and loves books, but any books about Pettson and his cat Findus are some of our favorites. We discovered them when spending a summer in northern Sweden (Pettson and Findus live in Sweden). The story line is great, but the pictures tell many more stories within the bigger story. Have fun!

It is our fourth (??) Pettson/Peterson book, first two we have in Czech translation, and because other books are still untranslated, we both next in English,and Mami must read more carfuly, but it is still the same excelent book, ilustrations with lot of covered joke.s.

I love all the Findus books, but this is one of the best. The illustrations are perfect. For adults it looks a bit confusing in the beginning, because Findus shows up five times in the same picture, but the Kids love it.