June 6 – National Doughnut Day

Happy Doughnut Day!

Arnie the Doughnut written and illustrated by Laurie Keller (2003)

Arnie is a doughnut who excitedly waits to be chosen from all the other doughnuts in the bakery. But, what Arnie doesn’t realize is that he will be taken home to be eaten. So when Mr. Bing picks Arnie out of the bunch and drives him home, poor Arnie is shocked to learn the truth. ‘Arnie froze. He felt sick and frightened and angry!’ Arnie politely asked to use the phone and frantically called the baker to alert him of the situation. That’s when Arnie realized that all the doughnuts understood their fate. It was only Arnie who had been naive. Luckily for Arnie, Mr. Bing agrees not to eat him.  After a lot of consideration, Arnie and Mr. Bing come up with a compromise which keeps Arnie from being eaten… Arnie will be Mr. Bing’s doughnut-dog!

If You Give a Dog a Donut written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond (2011)

Brought to you by the same team who gave us If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Numeroff and Bond entertain children with their silly chain of events leading back to the beginning of the story. Children who are familiar with these books will immediately understand the circular pattern and will try to guess what might happen next in order to move the action back to the beginning sequence. The string of events start typical but grow more and more wacky and adventurous, after the dog drinks all his apple juice he will want more and have to make his own juice because you don’t have anymore. Tossing apples to you will remind him of baseball, and you’ll have to get your ball and glove to play with him. Playing baseball will make him hot and dusty, which will result in a water fight. Drying him off with a bandana will make him want to play pirates and go on a treasure hunt… Eventually, he will end up wanting a donut again.

The Donut Chef written and illustrated by Bob Staake (2008)

This funny rhyming picture book appeals to donut lovers of all ages. A donut chef opens his shop on Main Street and has a booming business until the competition moves in next door. In their quest to be the best, each baker creates more and more elaborate and outrageous donut flavors and combinations. ‘It wasn’t long before the sweets – Looked not at all like donut treats. – They’d lost their taste. They’d lost their soul. – They’d even lost their donut hole!’ Then little Debbie Sue comes into the shop and looks and looks, and finally asks the chef for her favorite donut. a glazed donut. The donut chef exclaims that glazed is so old-fashioned that no one would want one. But everyone agreed with Debbie Sue… ‘Then all the people sang in praise – Of simple donuts dipped in glaze!’  Suddenly he realizes that sometimes simple is better and immediately makes a glazed donut for Debbie Sue. Now the Donut Chef is back to making a basic donut which everybody loves.