Having a family daycare in my home I deal with children from ages 6 weeks and up to 12 years old. Right now the children I have range in age from almost 3 to 7 years. A very nice age range to deal with, but making sure I check out books from the library that may appeal to all of them is sometimes a challenge.
Recently I checked out another Karma Wilson book,
Baby Cakes which is a little young for the older two in my group, but 2 ½ year old Cindy and even 4 year old Sonny enjoyed it.
The Story
This is a very simple rhyming story of babies taking care of a teddy bear. On each page the bear is the same but the baby is different and of varying ethnicities.
Baby Cakes, Baby Cakes,
I love you!
Baby Cakes, Baby Cakes,
Yes, I do!
Kiss my little
Baby Cakes
On the nose.
Smooch my little
Baby Cakes
On the toes.
Each page goes on to talk of caring for Baby Cakes the teddy bear from cuddling, to laughing and singing all the way to going night night.
The Illustrations
The very large drawings on the pages fill up most of the right side page while the text is placed on a white framed bordered background on the left side. These text boxes have little flourishes of color and drawings and around them are patterns to make them look as if they are almost set on wallpaper.
The drawings are done in soft looking shades while some of the borders around the text is a bit more vibrant, but none of it is too busy or overly detailed.
The drawings are all of babies with a teddy bear. All different shades of babies but the teddy bear is the same in each picture.
There is very little background detail, keeping the focus on the baby and the bear.
Our Feelings
I love the simple illustrations and the borders around the text add to the sweetness of this book. I especially like that the text is always on the left side, and the artwork on the right. This is especially helpful when reading to younger children.
This is a wonderful book that could be read just before naptime or bedtime to infants and up to around 4 years old although some 4 year olds may think it is a bit to babyish for them.
I think part of the sweetness of this book is it is about a teddy bear and a baby who loves it. It isn’t the same baby on each page, but rather several different babies who look to be from around 9 – months to about 1 year old. The skin tones are different on each of the babies making this a book that many children will be able to identify with.
The rhyming text is very easy to read in a sing-song type of cadence, which again makes it wonderful for young children. I can even see it being sung rather than just read.
Nuts & Bolts
Baby Cakes was written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Sam Williams.
Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, published this 24 page board book in 2006 with a jacket price of $7.99 US and $9.99 CAN.
ISBN: 1416902899
Other Karma Wilson books I’ve reviewed:
Bear Wants More
Bear Snores On
Bears New Friend
Bear Feels Sick
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Bear Hugs
Whopper Cake
Moose Tracks
A Frog in the Bog
Dinos In the Snow
Mr. Murry and Thumpkin
Never, Ever Shout in a Zoo
Animal Strike at the Zoo
Sleepyhead
Sweet Briar Goes to School
Sweet Briar Goes to Camp
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
