Random Acts of Cakeness

by Vikki Marmaras, Isabelle Duffy (Illustrator)

Overview

It seems like cake is falling from the sky! Arun, who is quiet and kind, bakes treats to cheer up his friends. But who will cheer him up when he bites off more than he can chew? A heartwarming story of friendship, kindness, and cake!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503771581
Publisher:	Phoenix International Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	07/23/2024
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	493,981
Product dimensions:	10.25(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Vikki Marmaras is a picture book author and active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). When Vikki is not writing, she works part time for an international children's charity and raises her young family.

Editorial Reviews

06/03/2024

Baking serves as social communication in this emotionally aware picture book. When Arun doesn’t know how to help a friend, he expresses empathy through culinary creations. After pal Lilya loses a coat button, Arun gifts “gingerbread men with shiny buttons down their fronts.” For George, whose wheelchair gets a flat before a basketball game, the young baker whips up pinwheel cookies. When another friend’s dog gets sick, the protagonist attempts “his biggest bake yet—a bake sale to raise money for the animal hospital.” But things don’t go as planned, leaving him despondent until the community offers support using Arun’s language of sweet treats. Echoing Marmaras’s straightforward text, which describes cakes as having “fallen from the sky,” desserts galore tumble across pages in Duffy’s airbrush-textured visuals, while scenes emphasize the emotional via expressive depictions of children of varied abilities and skin tones. The overall effect is a “sweet” ode to the way kindness inspires kindness. Ages 4–8. (July)

Publishers Weekly