Oh my goodness! What an absolutely adorable disaster.

It's Tacos birthday and all the other critters want to make him a birthday cake. There is one issue with this plan though, none of the animals know how to make a birthday cake!! But that doesn't stop them. They work together to try learn everything they can so they can make the best birthday cake ever!

This little story seems to be a retelling of the classic tortoise and the hare. This book teaches our Littles about working together and having patience.

The writing and illustrations are cute and pretty funny. Will definitely have mom or dad giggling along side their little.

As always, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review

Cute, expressive characters populate this story. The plot is easy enough to follow and the details are quirky.

There's a party going on in the forest and Mrs. Turtle is planning to bake a cake. The little rabbit wants to do the same thing, but there is a major difference: Mrs Turtle is very patient and carefully reads the instructions. But Little Rabbit is very impatient. He barely reads the instructions and hasn't bought any ingredients.

So while Mrs Turtle is carefully following the instructions at making the cake, the Rabbit does everything the opposite way.

He adds dirt instead of flour. He adds a frog's saliva instead of milk. Instead of stirring the ingredients very slowly, he does it very fast. And instead of decorating it with candies, he decorates it with sticks and stones.

When the party begins, the rest of the animals are, as expected, excited to try Rabbit's cake. But of course, they all get sick.
The party is almost ruined, but then Mrs Turtle arrives with her own cake, which the animals devour because it tastes amazing.

The story ends with Mrs Turtle saving the day and Little Rabbit learning the very important lesson of being patient.

I found the story to be quite pleasant and funny.
I loved the illustrations, the action and the message behind it.

Although, I've seen people criticizing this book as teaching children to "be impatient" and "if they whine enough, they'll get what they want" which to me seems like they've missed the point.
Because the Rabbit, by being impatient, makes a disaster of a cake and makes his friends sick.
So, the message is clearly: Don't be impatient because you'll end up messing stuff.

Anyway...

If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)

With thanks to the author, publishers Oni Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This was a funny tale of two animals who each set out to make a cake for a birthday party, one a young bunny who is determined to make the cake as quickly as possible, and the other a tortoise who approach is more slow and steady. Guess which one turns out the better of the two!? The back and forth comparison between the approaches of two and their varying degrees of success along with way was a hoot!

I loved how the book ranged from being funny and zany, to giving historical and spiritual context to birthday cakes and candles, to being practical by showing the real ingredients and step involved in making a cake, while the fabulous artwork just enhanced the whole reading experience. Lots of positive things to take away from this book, so top marks from me!

Bucky is a bunny who likes things fast! He's eager to get to the fun part and doesn't mind taking a few shortcuts along the way. Ms. Shelly tries to teach him to make a cake for a party, but Bucky is sure he can speed up the process to enjoy the deliciousness sooner. Will his efforts pay off?

This is an interesting, unique mix of factual information about baking along with a madcap adventure of Bucky cutting corners to slap together his cake. There's lots of humor, both in the text and the vivid, detailed illustrations. I could see this reliably producing giggles at circle time. The only thing I would have liked would have been some acknowledgement that while Bucky's style and methods didn't work in this circumstance, that there are definitely occasions when his speed, flexible thinking, and ability to adapt are a great asset. It would have been a nice message, especially for neurodivergent readers who might identify with Bucky. Still, this was great fun and would definitely be worth trying for pre-K and early elementary.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

It's Taco the squirrel's birthday and they need a cake for the party. Shelly the turtle is the local baker and is going to teach Bucky the rabbit, her baker-in-training how to make a cake. The problem is that Shelly does everything slowly, but Bucky wants to do everything quickly. He rushes off with the recipe but doesn't grab any ingredients. What will Bucky find in the forest to replace, flour, eggs, honey, water and more. This is a hilarious story about what happens when you rush and don't follow the directions propery. Luckily, Shelly is still around to save the day. This story is so funny and my grandkids laughed so much along the way. The final product had them pretending to gag as the animals eat Bucky's cake. This would be a great story to read at a birthday party before presenting the kids with the real cake. A great lesson of what happens when you don't follow directions or make substitutions without checking to see if they will work. The story is told is speech bubbles with the recipe and directions interspersed throughout the story. I loved the illustrations, they were so funny, full of action, expression and humour. I definitely recommend this one.

I loved this sweet and heartwarming story. I loved the drawings and the the story made me smile.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to the author, Oni Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This retelling of "The Tortoise and the Hare" is great fun, the kids I read it with loved it. Two bakers: the impatient hare and the slow tortoise, join forces to bake a birthday cake. The results are both disastrous and delightful, the moral comes through clearly without being preachy and the illustrations are great.

This is a Birthday Cake is a picturebook written by Andrew Cangelose and illustrated by Josh Shipley. It is currently scheduled for release on July 12 2022. It's Taco the squirrel's birthday, and all of his little animal friends are planning a big surprise for him—they're going to make him a birthday cake! The only problem with their plan is that the baker in the group is too slow. So, as this sassy crew of critters is known to do, they set out to learn all they can about birthday cakes and how to make one, with spectacularly disastrous and delightful results.

This is a Birthday Cake is a fun and highly entertaining read. I like that readers get a bit of history about birthday cakes, and how to bake one, even as we go along as Bucky speeds through a much less tasty cake making process. I thought that Bucky's desire to hurry things along and do things his own way is something that many young readers can relate to, as are the less than perfect results. I like that while a lesson is learned, the book is still a joy to read without feeling like the lesson was the only point of the book. The story and illustrations are great fun and never treat the readers or even the impetuous Bucky like they are bad for the mistakes that they make. This was just a fun read and I think it would be a great choice for storytime, bedtime, and multiple reads by new fans.

I adored this little book. It's so wholesome and heartwarming. The cake was not like the cake we all know, and I think it was nice to let children explore their imagination through this special cake

This is a good book, with a little bit history here, recipe there, mostly with a lot of humor. The importance of ingredients of a cake, and also patience to make it. Overall, this is one amusing book you have to read, and well illustrated too!

This is a Birthday Cake is an attempt at retelling The Tortoise (here, Bucky the Bunny) and The Hare (Ms. Shelly) that tries way too hard, and feels both awkward and tedious.

Overall this is a story about patience, and taking the time to stop and think before you act. It seems to be aimed at small children, but there are some things in there only an adult would appreciate or understand. Little kids just aren't excited about history, no matter how simplistic. I get that this is one of the major points of the book, that frantic Bucky doesn't care to stop and think about a "history lesson", but doesn't that kind of prove the point? Read the room.

Maybe someone can explain to me what exactly the character called "Garbage" is supposed to be? Maybe a trash-eating gopher? What an unfortunate name, and one I'd hate my children to pick up and use.

This will be a great story to read to my students. I think it will be really helpful when teaching them about going slow, not rushing through things and taking their time. That is such a hard concept for them! I love the illustrations and so will the kids. The characters are cute too. Great story!

It’s Taco’s birthday and Bucky the Bunny is so excited to bake a birthday for the party. Impatience sets in when Ms Shelly is slowly but surely trying to help him and he decides to make it by himself. Who’s cake do you think will come out better?
Thank you Netgalley, Andrew Cangelose, and Oni Press for the opportunity to read and review this cute rendition of the Tortoise and the Hare! My kids absolutely loved this fun and colorful book! They were giggling throughout the whole thing! Definitely a great book to add to your kids collection! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Story: 10
Illustration: 10

This is a Birthday Cake is a hilarious take on The Tortoise and the Hare. It is definitely not a book for younger children as it has some bold humour choices, but it is perfect for grade 1 students.

As I was reading the book, I was making connections as to how this story can be used to extend the literacy experience into math, art and science. Great book. My son is 10 and still talks about how hilarious the duck oven is.

** Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. **

THANK YOU to Oni-Press & NetGalley for sending me this reviewer's ARC. Reviews are honest reflections of my own opinions, always.

It's just not a party without cake.

When Taco the squirrel gets a little too impatient with the whole baking process, he sets out to do it his own way. The biggest problem: none of the critters know exactly how to create this confection (aside from Ms. Shelly, but that turtle is just way. too. slow. for Taco's taste). The resulting tower of interesting ingredients is not exactly what the party guests had in mind...

Part birthday cake history, part recipe, part moral lesson. This one had some giggle worthy moments & fun illustrations.

(expected pub. date 8/2/2022)


I enjoyed this cautionary tale about impatience & selfishness, mixed with some pretty ill-advised choices. Some actual laugh out loud moments paired with decent illustrations. I would like to have seen the omission of the word 'butt' (happens once). I really loved the addition of the history of cakes, candles, and the basic cake recipe (more birthday history would've been even better).

I CAN'T EVEN!!!
This book was delightful, delicious and DISGUSTING (in a good way- it's possible, trust me!)

What a wonderful and modern take on the classic tortoise and the hare story, I absolutely adored every single aspect of this book. It teaches patience, following directions and that slow and steady wins the race (or bakes the yummiest cake in this example).
I loved that the story centered around the lesson that Bucky learns- that good things come when
you are focused and take your time...you may be excited and rush, but that isn't always the way to go- BUT the recipe for making a cake is included (the real one too, not just the gross one made of dirt, bugs, sticks and pond water ;-)).

I loved learning about the history of cakes and candles- things I had never known, but that I took part in year after year. The illustrations and art style were playful, creative and vibrant- sooo eye-catching!

This was SUCH a fun and engaging read- full of lots of laughter and learning from Bucky's antics....HIGHLY recommend for any library- personal or classroom as it teaches important lessons in a cool way!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the DRC!

Thank you much to Oni Press And Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

This book was so funny, Bucky the bunny wanted to learn to make a cake, but he wanted to be quicker than his teacher Ms. Shelly and didn’t have an interest in hearing how and why it’s done the way it is. So he hops off and makes it all himself.

This is such a cute and funny story as Shelly was sharing the history of cakes with him, he literally had no interest in what she was telling him, so rushed away from her. Then to make the cake with only the recipe he uses his own wild imagination and cuts the corners.

This is a book that I think young ones would find really funny, it has really cute illustrations, it’s really easy to read. It is also a great way of getting into baking with a child as it tells you all about the steps.

It’s really sweet and I loved the characters and illustrations, I loved how funny Bucky was and the mess he ends up making.

This book is a version of the Tortoise and the Hare. It's a fresh variation with the same moral with the added lesson about following directions. It's funny and will be fun to read out loud.

Bucky the Bunny wants to learn how to make a birthday cake for Taco the Squirrel, but Shelly (you guessed it, a turtle) is too slow for his taste. So he decides to make his own cake - just one problem, he doesn't have any of the ingredients and is too impatient to follow the directions. I enjoyed the play on the Tortoise and the Hare and as always enjoyed the funny illustrations as Bucky learned his lesson. Kids will have fun laughing at the ingredients Bucky uses instead of real cake ingredients, as well as the reactions of the partygoers when Bucky shows up with his cake.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.