Review by Booklist Review
Barrett's delightful story, told in rhyming couplets, is about friends who don't hesitate to help a friend in need. Grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and ants, among other elegantly dressed insects, line up to visit the small tearoom owned and operated by an aproned bee whose windows are filled with delicacies of all kinds. "Her spotty squad" is a cadre of ladybugs that helps assemble the confections and serve customers. Disaster strikes when the ladybugs feel the urge to fly away, leaving the tiny baker with a tearoom full of customers and the kitchen a mess of flour, chocolate, and scattered sweets. To help save the day, "Cricket sounds the call to action, / Setting off an ant reaction / To do what ants do very best; / They work together without rest." Alkyd oil paintings and a crackling varnish decorate the pages with charming illustrations. The bugs, tearoom, and kitchen are drawn with intricate details, and the delectable desserts with their sweet embellishments are the highlight. The old-fashioned feeling of the tale is emphasized by a blue-and-white room filled with ice-cream parlor tables and chairs and includes a long, slim grasshopper playing, simultaneously, a violin and an accordion. Coming to the aid of a friend benefits everyone in this gratifying tale.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--An unusual anthropomorphic bee creates delicacies and teas for her customers at her bakery cafe where ants, crickets, and other bugs come daily to enjoy such treats as eclairs, pralines, and puff pastries along with her rose hip tea. One day when she goes to open, all the ladybug helpers fly away, leaving her alone to bake.The day is saved when her customers pitch in and help, telling her that they come not only for the pastries but also her friendship. This quaint story features sweet scenes as textured and iced as the baked goods themselves. Barrett (Babymoon) delivers an imaginative rhyming text, carried on by Jay in the illustrations, where the bugs wear top hats, waistcoats, and elaborate evening gowns that are sure to elicit giggles at story hours. VERDICT The font is somewhat small for beginning readers, but this is a grand addition to any library, gently demonstrating how we find friends where we least expect to.--Annmarie Braithwaite, New York P.L., New York City
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
True friends are always there to help you pick up the pieces--and the baked goods. Told in rhyming couplets, the story follows a bumblebee baker and her fleet of ladybug assistants as they prepare their daily treats for a waiting line of pseudo-Victorian insect customers. Alas, tragedy strikes when the ladybugs scent a "fragrant breeze" and swarm off, leaving the kitchen in disarray and a tearoom full of waiting customers. Discovering their flight, the baker is left stunned, and it's up to her ant customers to save the day. The message of friendship to the rescue is slightly undercut by the baker's paralysis during her own crisis and her reliance on others to solve her problems. The rhyme scheme is fair, if somewhat singsong-y in its cadence. A scattering of couplets suffer from either illogical phrasing given the visual context ("While sugar drifts like softest snow / Atop her puffy hat below"--the hat is pictured on her head and not obviously below anything) or lazy rhymes ("Cricket sounds the call to action / setting off an ant reaction"). The illustrations, oil under crackling varnish, are of a muted pastel hue with pops of brighter warm colors. The combination creates a dated vibe reminiscent of the early 1990s. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 73% of actual size.) Bland, empty calories. (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
