Intrnashunal menyoo

I love deciphering the spellings of new readers/writers. Alice is getting to be strong enough a reader/writer, and she's concerned enough about being wrong, that I was fearing we'd see little more written work produced independently, without appeals to adults for help with standard spelling.

But today I picked her up from aftercare and found that she and a friend had been hard at work on menus for an international cafe they'd imagined. Combine creative spelling with a six-year-old's sense of food pairings and her understanding of culinary origins, and you have a truly original document. Unfortunately a few giggles on the part of big sister prompted erasures, so the original is unavailable in its initial form. But who wouldn't love to dine on

-Bired and chies (stignckee) and chocolaet - Frans

or

-Chilee and anian and tomatoe taco - Indiea

or

-Anian salad - Amaruhca

or my favorite,

-Ingalatus* and forche coockies - Gapan


*(I like the cheese variety; some people prefer shredded chicken or beef in theirs. -Ed.)