Book Review: Apple Cake by Julie Paschkis

Book: Apple Cake: A Recipe for Love
Author: Julie Paschkis
Illustrator: Julie Paschkis
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

Alfonso is in love with Ida, but alas! Ida never looks up from her books to see him. So he sets about wooing her with apple cake. Will a sweet treat catch her attention long enough to show her his heart?

I adore Julie Paschkis’s art style. Can we just get that out of the way? I would pore over her grocery-list doodles. I’d have to be much more educated in art than I am to explain why I love them, but I think part of it is the simple lines, soft colors, and the willingness to be more than a little fanciful.

With this book, she showcases that fancifulness. The simple, almost prosaic text (“he beat two tablespoons of butter with a cup of sugar”) contrasts with the glorious illustrations. On the page quoted, for instance, he gets the butter by squeezing it from the sun, and the sugar from a friendly honeybee atop a few puffy clouds. This book, which landed on my desk just when I was looking for a Valentine's Day without an overabundance of treacle or pink, has ensured itself a place on my storytime shelf.