Adventures with Waffles

I’m pretty sure this is the only read aloud that made me laugh so hard I couldn’t continue. Other books have made me laugh until I cried, but with this one, not only was I crying, but I literally couldn’t get the words out. I had to hand the book to my ten year old to read a sentence for me. Don’t get me wrong. This book is not frivolous. It is touching, sentimental, and full of relatable real life events in addition to being hysterical. I am so glad that I read this one to my kiddos. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I think we will remember it for a long time.

Adventures with Waffles Details

Title: Adventures with Waffles
Author: Maria Parr
Publication Year: 2015
Age Group: Kindergarten, Early Elementary, Mid Elementary
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments

I read this book with my 4, 6, 8, and 10 year olds and we all loved it. This book follows a year in the life of two adventurous best friends in Norway. The best friends happen to be a boy and a girl, which I really appreciated, given that my kids have tendencies to want to segregate by gender sometimes. I also appreciated that the cast of characters is multigenerational. The main character has an extremely close, moving, fun relationship with his grandparents.

Each chapter of the book follows a different adventure of the two best friends who are prone to getting in trouble of the innocent and hilarious variety. There is some potty humor, but I did not find it offensive at all. For example, manure plays a part in one of their mishaps. In the chapter that I could barely get through due to laughing so hard, there is a misunderstanding involving fathers and puppies that leads to confusion over whether dads should pee indoors or outdoors. I seriously have never laughed so hard while reading to my kids.

What I loved most about this book though is how the extraordinary adventures are balanced with real life events like moving, re-marriage, and death. The characters express real emotions that are relatable to children and adults alike. One chapter I was laughing so hard I was crying and the next I was choking back tears. This is a book that I will not easily forget. I don’t think my kids will either.