FICTION

Pat-a-Cake Baby

by Joyce DUNBAR
illus. by Polly Dunbar. 40p. Candlewick. 2015. Tr $15.99. ISBN 9780763675776. LC 2013957527.
COPY ISBN
PreS—All tongue-twisting rhythm and sugary rhyme, this story stars a baking baby who sneaks into the kitchen to create a sweet surprise while everyone is sleeping. Accompanied by three miniature and multicolored sous chefs, the baby mixes, pours, and sifts before it is finally Pat-a-Cake Time. With the moon as the guest of honor, the quartet of sticky babies enjoy the fruits of their labors when it is finally Eating Time. Pastel colors, sparkles, and dreamlike star-spangled backgrounds help suspend reality in this adaptation of the familiar rhyme. The rhyme scheme, word choices, and length may make reading aloud challenging without some practice beforehand.
VERDICT By inviting audience participation in each rollicking step and possibly pairing the book with an actual baking activity, this sweet story can be a treat.
Reviewed by Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH
With great enthusiasm, Pat-a-Cake Baby enlists help in creating a late-night "spiffy special cake." Ingredients are added, then the cake is baked, patted (of course), and decorated before, finally, "IT'S EATING TIME!" The rollicking rhythms and silly words on each page would make a bouncy read-aloud; the similarly active illustrations feature amusing details, like the increasingly hungry moon in the background.
, Aug 01, 2015

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