SORRY, MRS. CAKE!

Mrs. Cake makes awesome desserts…but nobody notices.

A White kid with blue glasses, accompanied by a blue cat, attends a busy picnic for which Mrs. Cake has baked a host of delectable confections. A round, pigeon-toed Black woman who wears round red glasses, sculpted red hair, and a yellow dress with red hearts, Mrs. Cake remains silent until the last page, following the narrator around as the kid tries to inform the attendees about the desserts—to no avail. Only with the cat’s suggestion does the kid accomplish this goal. The retro-styled illustrations, with a palette of greens, oranges, and blues, sometimes make objects and characters appear two dimensional that should be three dimensional, such as a flat-looking man lying on the ground in the first double-page spread. Speech bubbles identify speakers, but unfortunately, Mrs. Cake utterly lacks agency throughout the story. Named for a food and noted only for her cooking and appeal to children, she sits on a blanket while kids climb all over her. Bright red and kidney-shaped, her hair has strange contours for a Black woman. In Milner’s U.K. setting, this character might resonate, but for U.S. readers, Mrs. Cake embodies the Mammy/Aunt Jemima stereotype. This representation, combined with an anticlimactic ending, makes this an underwhelming read.

A summer picnic to avoid.