Just the Right Cake

by Christina Tosi (Author) Emily Balsley (Illustrator)

Just the Right Cake
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

From Christina Tosi, the playful creator of the popular bakery Milk Bar, comes this story of a boy finding his comfort and creativity again after his parents' divorce. Original cake recipe included!

For Phil, every day is the perfect day to bake a cake, especially with his Mom and Dad. But after his parents separate, his favorite recipe doesn't taste quite right anymore. Something in missing.

Soon, Phil is on a mission to make a cake that fits his new life, incorporating some of his parents' favorite ingredients along with his own. In this comforting and sweet tale about moving forward after a big life change, trying something new is just the right recipe.

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Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

A foodie's delight, with a sweet message between the layers. 

Publishers Weekly

Offering a new recipe for moving forward, Milk Bar creator Tosi centers a child navigating his parents' divorce in this picture book about finding one's own bake. For Phil, who's portrayed with tan skin, "every day was a perfect day to bake a cake." Used to baking with both of his parents, he finds that something is missing when he makes his favorite double chocolate cake with just his mom, depicted with brown skin. He tries again at his white-presenting dad's new apartment, and still, "the cake wasn't the same." When he tells a friend what happened, she theorizes, "Every cake has a story. And sometimes stories change." In searching for a "new story to tell," one that's focused on his family's favorite flavors, and his own, Phil takes a mature, positive step forward that helps ready him "to see where his story would take him next." Via bake-shop-bright colors and round shapes, Balsley's crisp gouache and ink illustrations amplify the book's optimistic theme. Phil's cake recipe concludes. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2--Phil truly loves to bake cakes but after his parents' divorce, his favorite delectable double chocolate cake doesn't taste as great. He cannot figure out why and shares this conundrum with his best friend, Sammi, while they are making a batch of Phil's beloved peanut butter cookies. Sammi explains that she believes every cake has a story and perhaps Phil's story has changed. This gets Phil thinking, and as he rides his bike home, he decides to try something new. The next time he and his mom bake together, Phil asks her what dessert she loves best, and they make some fantastic gooey brownies. When he next visits his dad, they end up building a campfire in the backyard and roasting s'mores and his dad declares that s'mores are now his favorite. Armed with this new information, Phil creates an entirely new cake that melds both parents' favorites and his own love of peanut butter. Tosi and Balsley's second book (after Every Cake Has a Story) is vibrantly illustrated in gouache and ink and then enhanced digitally; the pictures rendered are just as enticing as all the treats described. Readers are left with the simple but important lesson that while change can be hard, it can lead to new and exciting things. VERDICT A solid purchase for collections wanting to augment their collections with books on divorce, change, family, and finding your story.--Amy Nolan

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Reinforcing the upbeat tone and positive outlook in this tale of family changes, Balsley's cartoon illustrations depict a young patissier presenting the very picture of culinary self-confidence as he bustles about two kitchens while his parents look on affectionately and lend an occasional willing ear or hand . . . A foodie's delight, with a sweet message between the layers. —Kirkus

Christina Tosi
Christina Tosi is the two-time James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Milk Bar. Known for baking outside of the lines and turning dessert on its head, Christina founded Milk Bar in 2008, now with 16 locations throughout the country. Christina has been a judge on Fox's Master Chef and Master Chef Junior series, and was the only woman and only American baker featured on the hit Netflix docu-series, Chef's Table: Pastry.

Emily Balsley is an illustrator who spends her days creating in her color studio in Madison, WI. Her freelance clients include American Girl, Mudpuppy, Highlights Magazine, and Storey Publishing; the UW Memorial Union, Food Fight Restaurants, and Madison Magazine. When she isn't making, she loves to ride her bike, box, and spend time with her family and friends.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593110713
Lexile Measure
530
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Rocky Pond Books
Publication date
February 07, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV013020 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Marriage & Divorce
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Cake
Baking
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Marriage & Divorc
Children of separated parents

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