Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake by David Melling
| Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake by David Melling | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: This much-loved bear makes a foray into the world of cookery. Silly and charming, with lots to see on every page! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2016 |
| Publisher: Hodder Children's Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781444919882 | |
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One day, Douglas wakes up to find honey footprints all over his bed. He follows the footprints only to discover that not only is his house all sticky, but his honey is missing! Continuing to follow the trail, he discovers the honey-stealing culprits...the sheep! And what, do you think, are the sheep doing with all of Douglas' honey? Why, they're baking, of course!
For small folk who have been subjected to hours of watching Bake Off this story will seem very familiar. It is a tale of a rather eager bunch of chefs causing havoc in the kitchen (although in this case their kitchen is outdoors, so the mess isn't too disastrous!) The sheep are making honey cakes, as sheep are known to do, and so Douglas merrily joins in. He helps with the ingredients, passing them berries and nuts and carrots and honey. As the mother of a toddler I appreciated the page that deals with Douglas washing his hands before baking, and also the donning of the apron. It's always good to have a helpful role model for these activities! Still, my usage of this book as a good example probably stops right there since once they actually start cooking everything gets a lot more chaotic!
We enjoyed seeing one poor sheep who is so covered in honey that he has grass stuck all over him! My little boy queried each time why he was green. I personally like the small sheep using the electric whisk to mix the batter since I feel it gives a very realistic portrayal of the baking process with a three year old. You'll be pleased to hear that they do manage to bake some delicious cakes in the end, but unfortunately a bad-tempered queue (and I love the thought of that!) leads to rather a lot of pushing and shoving which ends, ultimately, in a food fight! It is only the oven timer pinging that stops the fight and then, sadly, the sheep eat all the cakes and there are none left for Douglas! Since he is so hungry by this point, poor Douglas sits and eats the remains of the ingredients, discovering that carrots and berries and nuts are not so bad after all, even without honey all over them!
The illustrations are always my favourite part of any Hugless Douglas story, and I enjoy seeing all the different silly things that the sheep are getting up to, as well as dear Douglas too! The food fight page is great! We particularly liked the sheep with a carrot in his eye, and the one vindictively smooshing a splodge of something orange into his friend's head! As always, there are a whole load of sheep to look at on the last page, this time telling you how to decorate your cupcakes to look like sheep.
I did feel a little that this was more about the sheep than about Douglas, but that's just a personal mini moan. Douglas' honey bee pyjamas mostly made up for that! Hugless Douglas fans will enjoy all the action, and I'm going to hide our kitchen stool so no one in this house gets any ideas about rogue honey cake baking without me!
Further reading suggestion: New to Hugless Douglas? Head back to the original here Hugless Douglas by David Melling or for more culinary delights try Daddy's Sandwich by Pip Jones and Laura Hughes.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake by David Melling at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake by David Melling at Amazon.com.
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