In "I Really Want the Cake" by Simon Philip and Lucia Gaggiotti there are wise words of warning for those of us who are absolutely rubbish when it comes to sweet, sweet goodies being around the house.
It's terrible at home, in fact the only way any of us can resist tempting treats is to just not have any within a mile's distance of the place.
For example at home I just know that we have illicit fudge, sneaky custard creams and probably one or two millionaires shortbreads and you know how it is when it rolls around to the early evening, and those goodies are calling to you with siren-like voices from the cupboard.
So it is in this fantastically entertaining story, with a little mischievous girl with even less will power than us - and her doggy sidekick.
The cake looks good. The cake smells good. But how does it taste?
Mum's note on the cake - quite categorically stating "DO NOT EAT THE CAKE!" means business (question: Why is it always left to mums to be the 'bad guy' when it comes to stuff like this? Is it that they're more likely to be the voice of reason?)
Naturally, temptation is too great, things go awry and...well...
 |
| Oh dear. This won't end well! |
The girl opts for the latter. After all, how difficult could it be to bake a replacement cake?
(Answer: Terribly terribly difficult).
The story is hilarious, with fantastic rhymes that are pitch perfect, wonderful illustrations that are chock full of humour and even though the moral is completely lost on us when it comes to sweet, sweet, chocolatey temptation, we thought this was brilliant!
Charlotte's best bit: Obviously baking a cake and causing abject chaos results in a worse mess than just fessing up!
Daddy's favourite bit: Divinely simple story idea turned into a tour de force with brill rhymes and ace artwork. It's almost as good as cake itself! (Well no, nothing's quite as good as cake!)
(Kindly supplied for review - without accompanying cake, boo!)
"I Really Want the Cake" by Simon Philip and Lucia Gaggiotti is out now, published by Templar.