Baby Cakes

Finished September 24
Baby Cakes by Theo Heras, illustrations by Renne Benoit

This picture book shows a young child and the family cat helping mom make cupcakes. They gather ingredients, measure, mix, spill a little, fill the pans, and wait for the cakes to back. The illustrations are cute and everyone looks like they are having fun. It's a nice idea for kids who like to help in the kitchen. Included in the end papers, are a recipe for chocolate cupcakes in the front, and vanilla frosting in the back. This is where a few minor inconsistencies came up. The characters in the book make vanilla cupcakes, but the recipe is for chocolate cupcakes with a vanilla option noted. The recipe is in a different order than the story. In the story, they mix the dry ingredients first, but in the recipe they cream the butter first. The characters in the book seem to be eating baby cakes with frosting at the end, but there is no activity of them putting frosting on the cakes. I know these are minor inconsistencies, and don't have an effect on the fun of the book, but they just jumped out at me.
One very positive note: I know there has been much discussion of late of more children's books where the children can see themselves in the books they read, requiring more diverse characters in kids' books, especially where the characters are just themselves without commentary on race or ethnicity and I was pleased to see this book as a great example of filling that need.