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19th out of 66 books
—
71 voters
Cupcake
by
Charise Mericle Harper (Goodreads Author)
Poor Vanilla Cupcake. He's feeling a bit drab next to his fancy brothers and sisters. But when his new pal, Candle, comes along with some fresh ideas, the two hatch a plan to become the snazziest duo ever found on a plate!
With an undeniably adorable hero and eye-catching design, Cupcake is sure to appeal to the sweet tooth in young readers everywhere.
With an undeniably adorable hero and eye-catching design, Cupcake is sure to appeal to the sweet tooth in young readers everywhere.
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
January 18th 2010
by Disney-Hyperion
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This book is a great way to show a child that being different is ok. I enjoyed how it shows both the candle and cupcake, how they both feel the same type of pain. They are both the odd ones in their family. The cupcake was just plain old vanilla and the candle was plain old green. But together they made themselves feel better. I truly understood how they both felt because they brought pictures into my mind. The cupcake showed me how it had chocolate, happy face, pink princess, stripy, polka dot,...more
Vanilla Cupcake is born after ingredients are mixed together and he is baked in a toasty warm oven. He is decorated with plain vanilla frosting and then meets all of the other cupcakes that have been decorated in a much more fancy way. By the end of the day, he is the only cupcake that remains and hasn’t sold. He bursts into tears and a candle nearby hears him crying. Cupcake explains what has happened and the plain green candle understands because he has very fancy siblings of his own. Then Can...more
Ahh yes, a book about a cupcake. Can't say that I've ever heard of one before, and that's a good thing. New and different; that's what I like. Sure, Cupcake is basically a story teaching the reader that being plain and different is ok, and that has been done before, but never with a Charise Mericle Harper twist. The lesson doesn't hit you in the face. You don't read her books expecting to learn something; you read her books anticipating enjoyment and a funny ending - the learning part is a bonus...more
You play dirty pool, Charise Mericle Harper. It isn't enough that you've a brand new and very sparkly picture book out. Oh no. You had to go and write one about a cupcake. Cupcakes! The world's most perfect, most delicious food. How is any gatekeeper of children's literature (teachers, parents, librarians, booksellers, etc.) going to resist a book that stars the world's ultimate tasty treat? Unfair, say I. Then I remember that there's nothing stopping the other authors out there from writing the...more
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I saw some negative reviews on Amazon about how this (hilarious) book fails to teach an important life lesson - who are these people? There are about 7 billion (more boring and obvious) children's books out there that espouse Loving Yourself for Who You Are - people spend vast lifetimes attempting to achieve this goal, and Harper is smart enough to know that a book about a vanilla cupcake read at the age of 4 is probably not going to do much to pave that way. This book is wonderful and refreshin...more
After cupcake is born from a warm oven, he is excited to meet his fancy brothers and sisters. But being a plain vanilla cupcake becomes a problem when he doesn't get chosen. Luckily, candle comes to the rescue with some inventive and silly toppings to make cupcake stand out. This is a great book that invites extended conversations about favorite flavors, good toppings and not so good toppings(pickles, anyone?). This book is sure to be a hit with the under 6 year old crowd! ~Miss April
Find it in...more
Find it in...more
Great for talking about diversity. This is a story about a cupcake who is delicious but not as exciting as his brothers and sisters. He meets a Candle who is also plan compared to his brothers and sisters. Together they try to find a topping to make cupcake exciting. The kids love it. To them its obvious the candle should be the topping but candle and cupcake don't quiet get it. This book is sure to have kiddos laughing. They might also be shouting at cupcake and candle with the answer to their...more
I love when books try to make plain people feel special but I don't know if this one quiet reaches a convincing end. Vanilla cupcake doesn't get picked because she's not special and makes friends with candle who doesn't get picked because he's not special so he tries to help her become more special with a variety of toppings but nothing works. Its silly and thats nice and theres a cupcake recipe included so you could do more activity/conversation with it but it never really resolves anything
Vanilla Cupcake is creamy white, perfectly plain, and most certainly delicious. Cupcake is proud to be part of a colorful family that includes fancy flower-top cupcake and Polkadot cupcake, but pride turns to sorrow. Cupcake is left alone on the plate. Candle decides to help out by sprucing up Cupcake with everything from pancakes to stinky cheese. The silly combinations and Harper's simple, colorful drawings will make young children laugh. Gr. PreK-1.
This is a silly, but fun book about being special. Both cupcake and candle feel plain next to their siblings, so they try to find a way to make cupcake just as special. The narrative is entertaining and the illustrations are very humorous. We really like reading books by Charise Mericle Harper and we enjoyed reading this book together.
Cupcake is born but does not feel as special as his sparkly, stripy, glitter brothers and sisters. He is left all alone until he meets Candle. Candle has very unique brothers and sisters too and understands what it is to be plain. Candle comes up with an idea to make Cupcake feel more unique. Laughter is sure to follow when readers find out what kind of toppings Candle comes up with for Cupcake...squirrel anyone?
Cupcake is a story of two entities coming together to support. each. other. Cupcake was left over after all his brothers and sisters went to avalon, Candle was just an ordinary candle, with lots of fancy brothers and sisters too. Candle has lots of suggestions for a special topping to help Cupcake find happiness. Will this experiment in mutual aid be successful?
I absolutely loved Cupcake. The illustrations could tell the story without words, but added positive factors while reading the book. Cupcake shows that we all sometimes feel ordinary or left out, but with the help of a friend or another person feeling the same, wonderful things can happen. I would use this book to enhance the meaning of kindness, friendship and fitting-in.
A light and fluffy book with a big theme for young readers. Being chosen can be difficult to handle any time in life. Cupcake and Candle found each other and devise ways of improving one's appearance. One little change can make a big difference, just like one friend can mean the world to someone.
Theme: Cupcakes
Additional themes: identity, friendship, feelings
Theme: Cupcakes
Additional themes: identity, friendship, feelings
Cute little story. I can't help but think that this very perfectly parallels any amount of romantic comedy stories out there. "Hello, let's be sad and lonely together." "What shall we do?" "Oh, let me set you up." ... "Okay, that didn't work." "Oh, um, how about me?" Yeah, it was distracting to have all that going on, but still, quite cute.
This is a very fun book for youngsters about on of their favorite things; cupcakes. It talks about the process of making a cupcake and all of the creative things that one could turn it into according to their taste. It has a lot of gross options that no one would ever pick but might get the class rowdy which would be fun!
This book was from my Aunt Becca! When she gave me the book, I was mainly reading board books. Now that I'm reading more regular books, we read this one this weekend. Or rather, we read it about 20 times. I really liked it a lot! I don't get the humor quite yet, but the illustrations are fun. And who doesn't love cupcakes???
Apr 23, 2013
Natalie Heavrin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
appreciation,
creativity,
diversity,
food,
individuality,
kindergarten,
own-it,
picture-book,
self-esteem,
worry
This is another book where the cute cover drew me in! It's a funny story about trying to find what makes you special. It teaches kids to be themselves and that everyone is special in their own way. It'd be fun (and yummy) to do an art project where the kids got to decorate a cupcake to represent their personality.
Beyond adorable, though I will warn you, there is a scene where the cupcake cries because no one picks him, and something about pictures of things crying always gets to me. Read this aloud on Saturday and the kids found the ending a little perplexing. I was glad, however, that it wasn't a cliche ending.
This a story about a little cupcake who's sad because he's "plain old vanilla", and the birthday candle who tries to cheer him up. My 2 year old daughter loved the illustrations. The happy and sad faces on the cupcake made her giggle, and since it's a quick read it held her attention the whole time.
This was an adorable children's book. Funny, I went into the library today to pick up some young adult books, maybe a couple movies. And I saw this book on the counter, and had to check it out. :] I'm a sucker for a cute book cover and this one definitely has that. It's adorable book.
Perfectly sweet story about a cupcake and a candle. Cupcake is plain vanilla and is left behind after the fancier cupcakes are chosen first. Candle is just a plain birthday candle that isn't a shape or striped or tall and skinny. Together they come up with the perfect combination.
Love, love, love this book! And not just because it makes me want to go make (and eat) cupcakes. Think Arnie the Doughnut meets Piggie and Elephant. Even without sprinkles he's the tastiest thing I've read lately and the kindergarteners loved his story as much as the grown-ups did.
What is it about talking food that always makes for such great books? I think the cupcake should have been happy that no one ate him, (her? Do cupcakes have a gender?) but not being a cupcake myself, I suppose I shouldn't pass judgement. Perhaps food likes to be eaten...
This book was so cute!! I loved Candle! He's a silly goose. The illustrations were simple yet ADORABLE and the story was very sweet, touching, with a bit of hilarity. I'm giving it 4 stars because I had a smile on my face nearly the whole time I read it.
We first heard this story when we attended a reading session at a local library.
My kids loved this book and begged me to get them a copy (which I did).
If you like the illustration on the cover then you will love rest. The story is entertaining, too.
My kids loved this book and begged me to get them a copy (which I did).
If you like the illustration on the cover then you will love rest. The story is entertaining, too.
Wow, cupcakes are so trendy that they are now talking characters in picture books! Anyway, plain Vanilla Cupcake feels plain and sad until he meets Candle. Really not much story here, but I give an extra star for the squirrel, because I am easily amused.
This is about a cupcake who is trying to find something to make him special like his other cupcake siblings. He befriends a candle with a similar problem. Definitely some silliness as they search together. My kids giggle through the whole last half.
Super cute and fun. I don't think my storytime kids quite understood the message about being different, or exactly got the ending with the candle, but they seemed to enjoy it anyway. And the parents thought it was hilarious, so there you go.
This is sort of a cute story up to the part where the plain vanilla cupcake is not picked. Then comes a plain candle who starts suggesting different toppings: pickles, spaghetti, egg... At the end, there actually is not a resolution to the problem.
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