Don't Forget the Bacon!: 07/06/13

Don't Forget the Bacon! by Pat Hutchins is a picture book about a boy sent on his own the market for the first time. His mother recites the list along with some actions she hopes will help him remember the list. Then at the end she includes, "Don't forget the bacon," presumably because she almost forgot to add it to the list.

Along the way the boy tries to recite his mother's list. The interesting walk down the high street is understandably distracting. Like a game of telephone his list becomes muddled with each iteration.

An antique shop is nearly the final blow to his mother's list. But he eventually sorts it out. He remembers the correct list and does his shopping. Except...

While the humorous review preserved on the Internet Archive admonishes the boy for what he forgets, I think the real moral of the story is to write things down! If for some reason you can't, make sure the person running the errands can repeat the entire list before leaving. Don't trust hearing it once to be enough for it to stick.

Five stars

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