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HORSE AND ZEBRA BAKE A CAKE

Name: HORSE AND ZEBRA BAKE A CAKE
Author: Whitney Sanderson
ISBN: 9781631637117

From the Horse and Zebra series

by Whitney Sanderson ; illustrated by Angelika Scudamore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2023

A simple story with compromise baked in.

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A pair of bakers work together on a special oatcake recipe.

Although the title mentions only one cake, anthropomorphic, bipedal Horse and Zebra make many oatcakes in this story. At first it seems the text may take a page from “The Little Red Hen,” since Horse does all the work baking oatcakes to sell while Zebra sleeps until noon. But when the oatcakes start to sell like hotcakes, Zebra steps up to pitch in. The friends’ baking success is short-lived, however, since the animal community soon tires of plain oatcakes. Horse resists Zebra’s plan to jazz up the recipe: “ ‘Whoa!’ said Horse. ‘The old Clydesdale Family Oatcake Recipe has never changed before. We can’t change it now!’ ” When Zebra tries to make some changes anyway, the complex recipe she attempts is a flop, with animal customers rejecting it outright. Finally Horse comes around to the idea of adding just one special ingredient to the recipe, and the pair has a baked-goods success on their hands once more thanks to the compromise they reach. Although the storyline is a bit light and the cartoon illustrations are largely redundant, doing little to expand upon the text, a discussion guide and recipe help to round out this pleasant enough offering.

A simple story with compromise baked in. (Early reader. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9781631637117

Page Count: 48

Publisher: North Star Editions

Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT UNICORN RACE
by Whitney Sanderson ; illustrated by Jomike Tejido

- BOOK REVIEW
HEARTSONG'S MISSING FOAL
by Whitney Sanderson ; illustrated by Jomike Tejido

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)