Great Bunny Bakes

By Author / Illustrator

Ellie Snowdon

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Ltd

ISBN

9781471166358

Format

Hardback

Published

08-03-2018

Synopsis

Aprons on, recipes at the ready - it's time for the biggest, bestest, bunniest baking competition. Only - who is this strangely dressed contestant?!

Quentin is a wolf with a very unusual hobby. He loves to bake! So when he accidentally receives an invitation to take part in a Great Bunny Baking competition he'll do anything to enter. Masterfully disguised (ahem) as a bunny, Quentin sails through round after round with his peerless pastry and heavenly honeybun tower. But soon he has to contend with a jealous fellow contestant. And when he slips and drops his Showstopping Chocolate Cake it looks like all his work has been in vain . . .

But all is not as it seems in this tale of hidden identity, bravura baking and unexpected kindness.

An irresitible picture book from fabulous new talent, Ellie Snowdon, with witty text and stunning classic-yet-contemporary illustrations.

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Reviews

If you like 'Great British Bake Off' you'll certainly love this! Only this cakey contest is bursting with bunnies and a humble wolf named Quentin. This is a story that turns all of our preconceptions about nasty wolves on their heads, as this time we meet a friendly, pleasant wolf with a delicious talent for baking. Quentin would like nothing more than to have someone to share his passion for baking with of even a slice of chocolate cake over tea! After making sure Quentin was able to enter the Bunny contest, by working his magic in the costume department, it seemed as though he was a shoo-in to win the competition. That is until one scorned little bunny decided he was not going to let Quentin win without a fight! Let's just say meddling comes at a price, and our friend Quentin has more at stake than just a golden trophy. My year 1 class said this story was 'fabulous', 'fantastic' and that they 'really liked the part when you had to turn the whole book to see the big picture in the middle'. This story got some of my quietest children to sit up and take part, sharing their ideas and contributions with whole class. The illustrations are beautiful and so detailed they could tell the story on their own. My children really enjoyed reading between the lines and spotting the naughty bunny and the little hints at who the kind bunny was throughout the story (with his little teddy bear toy). It provides lots of opportunities for developing children's visual literacy. I hope to re-introduce this story a little closer to Easter to do some Easter bunny baking with the children and focus on instruction writing. Children could do some work on first person speech, writing speech bubbles for each of the characters as they decided to help the wolf fix his cake or design a contest of their own with a focus on time adverbials to sequence the rounds. Definitely not one to stay in the cupboard until Easter, though, a good read to enjoy all year round! Picture book / Ages 3+ / Reviewed by Nikki Stiles, teacher.