April & Mae and the Book Club Cake: The Monday Book

by Megan Dowd Lambert, Briana Dengoue (Illustrator)

Overview

Fans of King & Kayla and Charlie & Mouse will love this delightful beginning chapter book series that celebrates friendship every day of the week!

It’s Monday, and April and Mae aren't prepared for book club. To save time, April reads the book aloud while Mae bakes a cake for their friends. When they forget to add flour, some quick thinking helps the girls salvage the dessert. Sometimes a mistake can turn into something better than the original plan!

With imagination and humor, Every Day with April and Mae brings all there is to know and love about friendship to life in a way kids can both relate to and learn from making this a perfect fit for young readers ready to step up from picture books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580898874
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Series:	Every Day with April & Mae , #2
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,132,653
Product dimensions:	6.44(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.46(d)
Lexile:	AD340L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Megan Dowd Lambert is the author of A Kid of Their Own, A Crow of His Own, Real Sisters Pretend, and Reading Picture Books with Children. Her experiences as a white mother of seven children in a blended, multiracial, queer, adoptive family inform her work as an author, reviewer, and educator. A former children's literature instructor at Simmons University, Megan reviews and writes for Kirkus and Horn Book; is a consultant with EmbraceRace, a community focused on race and kids; and serves on the curation team of Our Shelves, a subscription box service that features racially diverse, LGBTQ+, and feminist characters and families.

Briana Dengoue is a Philadelphia-born-and-based illustrator and graphic designer. She holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and is a firm believer in the fact that representation matters. She is always hoping that her work reaches someone who may look like her and see the world like her. www.briana-arrington.com

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2022

K-Gr 3—April and Mae are best friends who have a different activity scheduled every day of the week. Each story in the series starts out similarly, with a reminder that while April and Mae (as well as April's dog and Mae's cat) are best pals, they also have their differences. April is bold where Mae is shy. Mae is tidy when April is not. In the adventures that follow, readers will celebrate those differences as April and Mae help each other when things don't go to plan. When the two lose their soccer game because of a muddy field, April laughs about it and pulls Mae out of her funk. When April has stage fright performing at the talent show, Mae (with some assistance from the misbehaving pets) gets her back on track. The colorful illustrations are appealing, and readers will appreciate the threads connecting each entry of the series, such as the constant companionship of the animals and Mae's love of baking. While the series supports the literacy development of emerging readers, it also encourages social and emotional learning, specifically in the recognition of facial expressions and modeling appropriate emotional responses. Colored circles appear on some pages, each holding a close-up of a character's face. When April is uncertain about performing at the talent show, her brows are furrowed. When Mae is laughing at April's antics, she sports a wide grin, and her eyes are closed. When April reads a story aloud, Mae cries first from laughter and then from sadness, allowing readers to explore the difference. VERDICT Following this celebration of friendship and feelings, early readers will want to know what April and Mae do next.—Alyssa Annico

School Library Journal

2022-09-14
In this installment of a new series that follows two best friends throughout a week, the titular duo attend a weekly book club after they bake an unusual cake for the group.

April, who is African American, a dog lover, and a fast reader, helps Mae, who is Asian, a cat lover, and a slow reader, to finish this week’s book by reading aloud while Mae adds ingredients to the cake batter. April’s expressive reading of the story distracts Mae, who laughs, then cries. After April calms Mae with a hug, Mae pours the batter into the pan and tells April to put it in the oven while she cleans up. Only later do they see the bag of flour on the counter and realize Mae left the all-important ingredient out. Even so, the cake smells good, though it looks “like a bowl,” with a sunken hole in the middle. Together the friends cover the hole with some cream and berries, salvaging a very tasty treat for their successful book club meeting. With short sentences and repetitive vocabulary, this sweet early reader is augmented with digital illustrations that provide some foreshadowing clues to the narrative. April and Mae are strong friends who problem-solve effectively.

A simple, charming tale of friends who work through concerns together. (Early reader. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews