Tina Cocolina

PreS-Gr 1—Tina wants nothing more than to win the Cream of the Top Cupcake contest, but she hasn't found the picture-perfect topping yet. Her parents assure her that she can compete next year but Tina will hear none of it. In fact, she is so blinded by her need to win that she refuses to play the cupcake-in-waiting role as helper. After being teased by a classmate, she finds inspiration and runs out to create the topping that looks just right on her. Tina arrives at the contest moments before the winner is to be announced and the judge is so dazzled by her beauty that he immediately crowns her Queen. The characters are drawn as people with cupcakes on their heads, tinted in an eye-pleasing, though sickeningly sweet palette of pastels. A few recipes by Howard, an award-winning pastry chef, are included, but kids who want to re-create the characters will be disappointed by the lack of matching topping recipes. Overall this one looks about as appealing as the plethora of pink mass-market books targeting girls, and it reads about the same.—Heather Acerro, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN