Amusing nonsense, but nonsense all the same, as a kid insists he didn't eat the cake his father has just made – it was a celebratory party food for some penguins that had kidnapped him, taken him abroad in a giant jar of marmalade and got up to no end of larks with some holidaying kangaroos. The matter-of-fact way the lad has of being accurate and precise with his answers, when grammatically his father falls over the absurdity of it all, is quite good fun, and it is a lively look, but I can't really see this being anyone's idea of timeless entertainment. Three and a half stars, instead.

A cute and nicely illustrated story about a missing cake and a young boy's amazing imagination!

Young children will love the inventive Albert's story of what happened to the cake - because he didn't eat it! Funny and sweet - follow Albert's story and see if you believe it was the naughty penguins, or maybe you have another idea in mind!

This is a sweet story about Albert who tells a story of penguins, games and even a spot of international travel to explain to his father why the cake has been eaten.

Throughout are many full-page illustrations, each changing to reflect Albert's tale making the narrative easy to follow. They use a bright colour palette but is well-balanced with white space so it doesn't feel overwhelming. There are animated facial expressions that portray the characters' emotions clearly.

The text is well-formatted, using a different font (bold) for each character, all of which are suitable for young readers. Also, it is placed separately from the imagery so it is easier for children to decipher. It's structured entirely in speech, which offers an underused approach to a picture book. It makes it ideal for teaching dialogue in school, especially as it could easily be presented as a performance to aid text comprehension and develop intonation.

The topic and writing style make this ideal for reading to three to seven-year-olds. From the vocabulary used and how much of it is phonetically decodable a child would be about seven years old to read this independently or with minimal support.