Clever Cakes

by Michael Rosen, Ashley King (Illustrator)

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Childrens

88 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 1991

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Grace Steed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published by Barrington Stoke this is an easy to read, dyslexia friendly book. This book is perfect for more reluctant readers who benefit from 'easy win' reads where the content is matched to their age rather than their reading ability, thus avoiding the situation of upper KS2 children reading books designed for much younger readers. The stories in Clever Cakes are aimed at children aged between 5 and 8 years old. Clever Cakes is about a girl called Masha who is captured by a bear and has to use some cakes and her wit to escape from it. The Great Golden Belly-Button is a funny story about a bored King and his advisor who devise a game to make the King laugh with the prize being a special golden belly-button.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Little Gems series from Barrington Stoke, Clever Cakes contains two different traditional tale stories each reimagined by Rosen and beautifully illustrated in full colour throughout by Ashley King. The first story, in the style of Catherine Storr's Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf sees young Masha outwit a hungry bear to avoid being eaten and the second story, The Great Golden Belly Button sees another young girl outwit a king.

The stories themselves are fun to read but it's Barrington Stoke's dyslexia-friendly presentation that makes this especially worthy. Cream-coloured pages and a special font with broad gaps between each line make this far more accessible for all readers whilst remaining a 'real' book.

[Dorthe Svendsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosen altså, fått så dilla at jeg har bestillt en hel skolepakke, spent på hva som er oppi den. Den første historien her var nydelig, den andre helt ok. Jeg liler nok bøker med en historie best. Men historier med litt smarte lurerier er som regen gøy for unga.

[Jacaranda21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read. Good Barrington Stokes for younger readers. Nicely spaced text, cream coloured pages. Good illustrations to match these reimagined traditional tales.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's face it when you open a new book from Michael Rosen you already know it's going to be funny and engaging and these two fairy tales with clever young female protagonists certainly doesn't disappoint. Great illustrations from Ashley King too, colourful and amusing. Perfect for beginner readers.