Cindy and Panda

Cindy and Panda begins with Cindy’s going to the garden to get rhubarb for the pie she is planning to make. When she returned to the kitchen, she brought not only the rhubarb but also a real live Panda!

Cindy took her newfound friend, Panda, around her house, and they played together until it was time to make the pie. Cindy and Panda initially followed the instructions to make the pie but did a “freestyle” at the third step, playing with the pie mix and eating it. Panda even ate the rhubarb filling! With Panda’s having eaten the filling, they decided to replace it with blueberry filling. At the end, after baking the pie, it was delicious, and both Cindy and Panda enjoyed eating it.

What is interesting about the storyline is that Cindy’s mom does not help her and Panda with their baking. After finding out about Panda, Cindy’s mom was not mentioned again in the text. However, she is shown in some of the illustrations when the pair did their freestyle baking, finishing the pie crust, and putting the pie in the oven. This book can provide a valuable lesson for kids as they can put the ingredients together and mix them on their own, but, when it comes to handling ovens and knives, then they must wait for an adult to help.

Shum’s illustrations complemented the story very well and walked the reader through Cindy and Panda’s journey. The watercolour art presented characters and objects that were lifelike and accurate in design. My favourite illustrations were at the point that the new friends were doing a “freestyle” step. The art clearly depicted everything that was happening, so much so that, even if the children reading the book did not know how to read very well, they could still understand the story very well just through the illustrations.

Cindy and Panda, a great picture book for families and everyone alike, teaches the valuable lesson of following instructions and working together as a team to complete a task. A bonus found at the back of the book is a recipe for “Cindy and Pandas Blueberry Pie”.