Oh Look, a Cake!: A Subversively Hilarious Picture Book About a Sloth and Lemur for Kids

by J.C. McKee

A subversively hilarious picture book about a sloth, a lemur, a giant cake, and what happens when you don’t share, for fans of Jon Klassen and Mo Willems.  

When Sloth and Lemur come across a giant, mouth-watering cake, they can’t believe their luck. Sloth wonders if they should tell the others, but Lemur is pretty sure they shouldn't. As Sloth lists each friend one by one, Lemur is ready with excuse after excuse as to why it’s better to keep the cake to themselves. In the end, that’s just what they do . . . but then the true owner of the cake comes along. With impeccable comedic timing, ample visual humor, and a subversively hilarious ending, this highly entertaining story, complete with a memorable reminder about the importance of sharing, will have readers young and old giggling at every page turn.  

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Food, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2021

Reviews

[Marissa Elera]

Hilarious ending. Sugar does things to Tortoise is the part that makes me laugh the most though.

[Kaethe]

Look at those scheming faces on the cover! Why, yes, I will scheme for cake.

McKee has won my heart. Fond as I am of sloths and lemurs, I identified strongly with that picture of Tiger.

Delicious and it has custom endpapers.


Library copy

[Julianne]

I am giving it three instead of 4 just because of the ending... I know its supposed to be funny but it is also a little sad.

[Dylan Teut]

Very Jon Klassen-esque.
And Lucy Ruth Cummins (A Hungry Lion) comes to mind.
Would be great to discuss how they are alike/different and making predictions.

[Alisha]

Another great entry into the "animals eating other animals" category

[Lauren Rosenthal]

One word, SLOTHS!

[Kayla]

Wasn't ready for that ending.

[Mehsi]

Gelezen in het NL, geen zin om NOG een boek aan GR toe te voegen. Een luiaard en een maki hebben een prachtige taart (gevonden) en zitten te bedenken wie en hoe ze het gaan eten. We zien ze denken aan schildpad (maar die wordt een tikje vreemd door de suiker), mieren (maar téveel gedoe), de tijger, en nog meer dieren. Ik lag dubbel elke keer en vooral dat einde. Die kwam echt uit het niks en ik was heerlijk aan het genieten dat het DIE kant op ging. OH YES. Eindelijk weer eens!
Leuke illustraties, nu heb ik zin in cake. Gelukkig heb ik gisteren op 1ste kerstdag een lekkere cake gemaakt, straks maar een plakje eten. MMM!

[Lisa D]

Loved it! Too cute!

[Erin]

Fun story, but my kids are concerned about the ending 😳

[Susan]

Well THAT was a fun surprise ending!

[Emily]

storytime, animals, best of gift book, FUNNY FUNNY

[createitlibrarian (Amanda)]

Lol, that took a dark turn

[Brandon Khan]

4.5

[Elisabeth]

This book was shocking and hilarious! It was a fun and surprising book, lots of fun and has made me laugh. Great illustrations as well.

[Katie Ikesaki]

wtf

[Kelly]

I laughed so hard at this book!

[Lynn]

Wonderfully silly and funny. Absolutely perfect for a first grade read aloud! Would be fun to use as a story starter predicting what might happen next.

[Angelica]

Deeply disturbing and frankly shocking. It’s laughable that the description presents this like a Mo Willems book… yeah no; Mo teaches emotions and empathy while this book must have been written by a cruel and sick wannabe. This initially seems like a fun, playful book for young children about silly animals and brightly colored cake (some of my little girl’s favorite things). We get to know and laugh with a silly sloth and lemur only to see them eaten in the end. That cruel reality is delivered in such a blunt and deadpan way that it hit me like a truck and I was truly shocked reading this out loud to my little one. It’s not funny, it’s sad and cruel, especially to pop up like that out of nowhere in a book for small children. Thank heavens she can’t read yet so I last-minute changed the final wording a bit, but it makes the pictures bizarre and not match up. Fortunately her attention isn’t that great yet either. Either way, seems to me the author might be a psychopath (kidding but not kidding).

[Tayler K.M.]

I picked this up because I too often exclaim "Oh look, a cake!"

Turned out to be really funny and just my style of humor.

Highlights:
- those devious hands on the cover
- whatever is going on with Elephant's eyes
- "Peacock, maybe?" "Forget it, that guy won't eat anything prettier than he is."
- the beads of sweat on Sloth's face as he's handing tiny cake bits to the ants
- glorious unicorn illustration
- fly: "wow, a camel!"
- "Tortoise? Sugar does things to him" XD
- The exquisite portrayal of sloth's big realization
- Tiger: "I can still get it back." Perfect.
- That little bit of foreshadowing hiding the whole time striped candle!
- Ants: "So moist!" "I must get the recipe."
- copyright page: "No sloths or lemurs were harmed in the making of this book."
- author blurb: "His favorite cake is all of them."

[Jenn]

Reminiscent of Mo Willems Pigeon or Elephant/Piggie books.

Sloth and Lemur find a cake and decide to throw a party. But they can't decide which animals to invite, because there is some reason why everyone would ruin the cake/party. We liked the unicorn/horse in disguise and the chameleon that they "haven't seen in weeks". Finally Sloth and Lemur just decide to eat the cake themselves, eating so much they can't move. Turns out the cake belonged to Tiger, who made it for his own birthday. Surprise ending: Tiger says "oh don't worry. I can still get it back." and eats them... readers don't see it, but they know that's what happened.

[Cathy Stefanec Ogren]

Sloth and Lemur find a cake and decide to invite others for a party. But who should they invite? Elephant? Tiger? Peacock? After going through a list of animals and finding something wrong with each of them, Sloth and Lemur decide to eat the cake by themselves. Tiger appears after the cake is gone and wants to know who ate the birthday cake he made for himself. Sloth and Lemur apologize, but a disappointed Tiger knows exactly how he is going to get it back. Kids will love this book with its hilarious illustrations, the many excuses Sloth and Lemur come up with as to why not to invite the other animals, and Tiger’s solution to his birthday cake problem.

[Melanie Hetrick]

Sloth and Lemur come across a cake just sitting out. Sloth thinks they should have a party. But when they think of friends to attend, each friend comes with it's own special set of issues. For example, Elephant would just eat the entire cake. In the end, the two friends decide they must eat the cake themselves as no one else will do. Just as they finish, Tiger comes along and bemoans the loss of his birthday cake! No worries; he can still get it back. And there will be delicious crumbs left for the ants.

Children will chuckle at this tale of dark comedy with a hidden clue. Recommended for storytime.

[Jacob Schmitt]

Nothing like being an adult laughing out loud at a simple, yet surprisingly witty picture book! Meet a Sloth and Lemur, who have found a cake and seem to be planning a party to help eat the cake. However, it is just too impractical inviting other creatures, for the dolphin will just play with the cake, the peacock only focuses on his own beauty, and the tiger will eat them both! Kids will love reading this book! Furthermore, the expressions on the Sloth and Lemur are subtle yet apposite. Now please excuse me, I'm going to read this again!

[Jo Oehrlein]

Sloth and Lemur find a cake. They list friends who they might tell, but always find a reason not to (the reasons are a stretch).
Together, they eat the whole cake.
Tiger shows up and says they ate HIS birthday cake.
But that's okay, because Tiger gets his cake anyway by eating them (off page, of course).
The ants (who were mentioned by not invited earlier), show up for a feast of crumbs.

This is to sharing what the story of "Ananias and Sapphira" in Acts is to telling the truth, although this story is much, much, much more funny..

[Devin Fane]

For those of you with a slightly darker sense of humor and that have tougher sensibilities you might consider this book. It's simple, fun, sarcastic and a little savage. The ring-tailed lemur is one of my favorite animals and let's just say my sister and I lost our stuff at the ending. The author is hilariously comical. Read this before you read it to children just in case. Everyone has to learn that life on this planet is not always a flowery bed of ease and there are consequences to your actions and that's all I'll say on the matter.

[Cat]

OMG! Incredibly funny; I'm sitting, in my library, and silently screaming with laughter! Sorry, I have sort of a twisted sense of humor and so enjoy children's picture books that serve it! The illustrations are wonderful and, well, I won't give away the ending. Some children may be disturbed by the ending, just a warning, but I promise, most will be rolling on the floor laughing! Kudos Jonathan McKee! You have written a must own book.

[Camille]

This picture book is hilarious. A sloth and a lemur discover a cake, decide to have a party and discuss who to invite. I enjoyed the illustrations, the humor hit home and I found it fun and that I'm pretty sure I'd be able to share the fun in a future storytime.
This book would pair nicely if read following Emberley/Emberley's The Red Hen. It could also pair nicely with Klassen's I Want My Hat Back. Oh! It just occurred to me it would also do well if read along with Mr. Tiger Goes Wild.

[Linda]

I cannot pass by any picture book with a sloth character. J.C. McKee's funny story surprises in many ways, especially at the end! The expressive faces of these characters will make readers smile all the way through. Sloth, after seeing the cake, says there should be a party, then asks "Who would you invite?" A slew of characters is imagined and rejected. You'll laugh out loud at the answers and the ending!

[Amanda Batarseh]

This book really made me laugh especially the ending. I did not see it coming at all. its about this sloth and lemur who find a cake and then they go through a whole process to find people to eat this cake with them but every animal was wrong for eating it. in the end they just end uo eating the whole cake by themselves and then they find out it was the tigers cake. the tiger then eats them both so he can have his cake back. very funny and cute book.