Clever Jack Takes the Cake

Clever Jack Takes the Cake
by Candace Fleming

4-Year-Old: Thumbs Down
Mom: Thumbs Up

Summary: A poor boy is invited to the Princess' 10th birthday party.  He doesn't have enough money to buy a gift worthy of royalty, so he bakes the Princess a lovely cake from scratch.  As he walks to the Princess' castle, he comes across some hungry birds, a troll, a dark forest, and a dancing bear, some of whom eat part of the cake or require Jack to give away or consume some of the cake. At the end, all he is left with is his story.  But maybe a story is exactly what he needs.

Review: I enjoyed reading this book. The main character comes across obstacles and overcomes each one.  He has a positive attitude after he loses each part of his precious cake and in the end wins over the Princess (who is bored by all her fancy gifts).  I liked the main character's perseverance.  When I finished reading it to my son, I said that I liked the book. He immediately told me that he did not!  First, he actually didn't want me to read it in the first place, so I don't think the art captured him (especially on the cover).  He explained to me that he didn't like the birds.  I think he was disturbed that they swarmed around and ate the walnuts off the cake.  He didn't like the troll (he's scared of trolls in children's stories generally), and the dark forest was scary for him too.  So, even though the story had a happy ending, it didn't matter to him because he remembered all the disturbing parts of it.  I'm not sure what the reaction would be for other kids who are not so skittish, but for my son, this book did not take the cake.