The Perfect Birthday Recipe

Hudson's accompanying illustrations use a nice balance of spot and full-page compositions to support pacing and offer faithful depictions of the characters and events in the story. A good sense of movement and expression animates the anthropomorphic characters, adding humor to the telling. Sweet as cake.

Being a careful, thoughtful, particular sort, Beaver is appalled when his friends take over his meticulously planned birthday cake recipe and add their own, much more chaotic flair. Humorous illustrations in an array of bright party colors showcase the cake catastrophe in all of its well-intentioned glory. Beaver is angry at the interfering--there are worms in the chocolate!--until he recognizes that friendships, like birthday cakes, can be perfectly imperfect, and both are best when shared.

Beaver the perfectionist has an elaborate plan for his birthday cake, even charting out the ingredients and various layers on graphing paper. When his woodland friends offer assistance, it becomes apparent that no one shares Beaver's vision for the cake: Rabbit throws in 200 carrots instead of two, Tortoise ices the cake so slowly that it drips everywhere, and Bird adds her family's secret ingredient without permission (it's worms). The final cake is a runny mess--and Beaver gives his friends a piece of his mind ("This is the UGLIEST, most DISGUSTING cake I have ever seen!") before going solo to craft a cake that would give most baking show contestants a run for their money. Beaver realizes the downside to baking the cake himself, however--eating it alone is no fun--so he invites his friends back and they enjoy the disaster cake together. This readaloud is full of hilarious moments, from Beaver's ridiculously specific plans for his cake to Squirrel's dumping of the ingredients on an angry Beaver's head. While the design is on the stodgy side, Hudson's playful line and watercolor art is realistic enough to flaunt the forest's scenic beauty and the delicious-looking cakes but cartoonish enough that the forest animals have cute, rounded eyes and adorably exaggerated bodies. This would be an entertaining summer read to complement the author's A Loud Winter's Nap (BCCB 10/17). It also carries some heartwarming lessons: sometimes the gesture is more important than the outcome, and most things are better shared with friends.