Reviews

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming, G. Brian Karas

readingjag's review against another edition

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4.0

Quite terrific. Poor Jack makes the princess a lovely cake for her birthday, but everything goes wrong as he travels the kingdom with it. I'm looking for readalouds for older kids and this one is great.

thewenzl's review against another edition

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4.0

Audience: P-2nd graders, boys and girls, kids that need to learn a great present doesn’t have to cost anything

Appeal: Fast paced and funny, the book would be great read aloud due to the interesting characters and noises written into the story. The ending may have been predictable, but the story was not. It has a great lesson in it for young kids about materialism.

Nebraska Golden Sower Award Nominee 2012-2013

kristenremenar's review against another edition

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5.0

What can poor Jack give the princess for her 10th birthday? A golden-sweet cake, with walnuts spelling "Happy Birthday" and the perfect, juicy strawberry on top. But on the way, unexpected encounters and mishaps befall Jack, and when he finally gets to see the princess, he has nothing to give her - except the wonderful story of his adventure to bring her a gift. Just right.

jwinchell's review against another edition

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4.0

This is on the 2014 Monarch list.

Fun fairy-tale twist & the art is very sweet.

I am learning that picture books are not just for preschoolers (previous assumption); this is one my boys might not sit through, but I can imagine 1st-3rd getting a big kick out of it and understanding Jack's trials.

mbrandmaier's review against another edition

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3.0

Jack bakes a cake for the princess's birthday party, but gradually loses all the pieces of the cake on the way to the party. This reads like a delightful fairy tale.

toastymaloney's review against another edition

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4.0

I loved the story. It's about a boy who sells his things to buy ingredients to make a cake for the princess' birthday. On his way to the princess' party, it gets eaten by various characters. So fun, and sweet.

shawnareads24's review against another edition

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5.0

Jack is invited to the Princess's 10th birthday party but has no gift to bring. He trades for ingredients for a cake to take as his gift. While traveling to the party he meets all sorts of characters that pick apart his gift. He meets the princess, with nothing to offer, but ends up with the best present! Great story!

zusy's review against another edition

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4.0

Another book where Kaelyn didn't like the negative aspects (even though Jack remains positive!!) but changed her mind at the verrrrry end.

jcschlotfelt2313's review against another edition

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3.0

Gorgeous illustrations and a sweet enough ending, however, hard to absolutely love a tale about a peasant boy sacrificing everything for the princess to have a birthday cake.

the_lobrarian's review against another edition

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  • Illustrations are gouache and pencil