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10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 ANOTHER ONE TO ADD TO YOUR KIDS LIBRARY Mar 29, 2008
By D. Blankenship
There are some books that are simply fun to read. This is one of them. There are some books that are a joy to simply look at. This is one of them. Actually, I was unable to find anything what-so-ever to dislike about this particular work. It has just about everything that a good children's book should have.
This is a story about a strange little kid, Clarence, who lived in a house with a purple door, in the mountains near a town. Simply put, Clarence was a cake thief. He would slip from his home; go to the village and steal cakes, all kinds of cakes, the prettier the better. Now I do not want to add any spoilers here, so I will not go into detail how this one ends. Suffice to say that Clarence, the strange little boy who loved stealing cakes, learns that making the cakes himself and sharing those cakes is much more rewarding that stealing those made by others.
The story line in this small book is easy to follow and the text matches the art work perfectly. There are no periods of slowing down and the story line keeps moving right along. I love lines such as:
"But Clarence did not know how to bake a cake or make frosting or turn on the oven. So he went home and began to fret. He fretted in the bedroom. He fretted in the living room. He fretted in the dinning room, and finally he fretted in the kitchen."
Lines such as this sort of roll off the tongue and if read correctly, can get the little ones to giggling quite quickly.
Now as to the art work. Ms. Lee certainly has her fair share of talent and then some. The art is lively, it is extremely colorful and it is calming and mellow. It is the type of art that a small child can look at and say to themselves, "I can do that!" And what is even more important, they, the child, will actually try to reproduce it. This is good. On the other hand, the work here by Ms Lee is quite well done. The composition and color blends actually take great skill. If you don't believe me, try it yourself with some pastels, oils or chalk or even water colors. It is not easy! This type of painting, that which can motivate the child yet is a challenge to an adult, is a wonderful skill. Wish I had it.
Recommend this one highly for the young reader. I do hope we see more of this author's work in the future.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
fine book to teach young kids the importance of good behavior and healthy relationships Mar 28, 2008
By Matthew G. Sherwin
The Cake Thief is a short but very special book for young children written by Sally O. Lee. The illustrations are especially beautiful; they are sure to catch the eyes of many a child and even the adults reading the book to their kids. The words are mostly appropriate for kids in the four to seven year old range but I agree with the reviewer who notes that a couple of words like "peculiar" may be difficult for this age group. Words that are too difficult in the text could lessen the child's enjoyment of the story and make the moral of the story just a bit harder to teach.
The story begins with the reader being introduced to Clarence, a young boy who doesn't talk to anybody; he just likes to steal cakes that other people in his town have made. He even steals them from their homes when he thinks nobody is looking! Clarence eventually finds out that everyone knew he was "the cake thief;" but before this happens he must solve a problem. Clarence tries to steal a cake one day--but in place of a cake on someone's cake dish there's an invitation to a party. All Clarence has to do is bring a cake.
Of course, Clarence knows he can't bring a cake that he stole--he hasn't yet realized that they know he's the actual cake thief. Therefore, Clarence learns to bake a cake. He realizes that he doesn't need to steal other people's cakes anymore--now he can make his own. When he arrives at the party with his own cake, the townspeople cheer him and welcome him with kindness and compassion. Clarence learns that he can be independent; he doesn't have to hide behind a mask when he steals cakes; and he can be liked and appreciated for who he is by the others in the town. What a great lesson to teach kids about the importance of kindness and compassion to people who have problems or who are just not as fortunate as they are!
Again I must make mention of the beautiful illustrations. They truly look like very painstakingly crafted paintings and I love every one of these pictures. This book is a keeper for me!
I highly recommend this children's book primarily for young children between the ages of four and seven. They learn the importance of not stealing, being self-reliant, being welcomed into the community as a reward for appropriate behavior, and the value of being your own self without having to hide when you know you're not doing the right thing by other people.
Thank you, Sally O. Lee!
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Thief of Cakes Mar 23, 2008
By Lonnie E. Holder
"The Review's the Thing"
Clarence is a thief. However, Clarence steals but one thing, cakes. Large cakes, small cakes, short cakes, and tall cakes are all Clarence's targets. Though Clarence's desire for cakes takes him to many homes, he never speaks to anyone, though no one knows why.
One day, Clarence gets an invitation to a party. The only requirement of the invitation is that Clarence must bring a cake. Of course, Clarence knows that he cannot bring one of the cakes that he stole. What Clarence does not know is that everyone in town knows that Clarence is the cake thief.
What is Clarence to do? Will Clarence go to the party? What will happen if Clarence goes to the party? The answers to these questions and more await the reader!
This story is very cute and would be a wonderful story to read to children ages 3 and up. This book is also a good book for children just beyond beginning readers. The book is in an oversized format friendly to young hands.
Sally O. Lee illustrated this story as well as being the author. The colors are bold and the pictures are slightly impressionistic. The pictures remind me of pictures from books I read when I was a child, many decades ago, which means that I think these pictures have a classic, timeless feel to them.
This story has a nice moral to it told in a clever way that makes this book easy to read and enjoy. I recommend this book for all children, either as a book for reading to someone, or as a book for a child advancing beyond beginning reading skills.
Enjoy!
Note: The author provided a copy of her book for this review.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
The cover and the illustrations inside the book just were not polished enough for me to rate the book higher. Mar 29, 2008
By Marci Twain
I liked this book. I thought the story was pretty good. And I thought the illustrations matched up pretty good with the text part of the book. I got something of a message from reading the book: find joy by giving and don't steal.
I'm pretty sure young children will enjoy having this book read to them. And the illustrations are colorful and help the reader get a better picture of what is going on. Kids typically love cake. At least I did when I was a kid. I still do. So when I finished the book I went to the store and got a cake.
I would have liked the book better if I had been told closer to the start of the story that everyone in town knew whom the cake thief was. I found it strange that I found out this fact late in the book. Also, the cover of the book made it look like a child in elementary school had designed it. The cover just wasn't polished enough for my liking. I'm impressed that the author is also the illustrator, though. That doesn't seem to be all that usual in childrens books. 4 stars!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Brightly illustrated book with good lesson Apr 17, 2008
By Christina Lockstein
"Christy's Book Blog"
The Cake Thief by Sally Lee is an absolutely charming book about a young boy named Clarence who loves stealing cakes. He sneaks through his whole town swiping cakes left and right, until the day he finds a note in place of a cake inviting him to a party, but there's a catch: he must bring a cake he's made on his own. The artwork is bright and surreal, working perfectly with the theme of brightly frosted cakes. The words are easy to read and repititious in just the right way. My five-year old daughter was able to recognize cake, bake, and make by the end of the book and join in the reading. Clarence learns that cakes taste best when shared with others; the lesson is gentle, not preachy. This is a book that we will read again and again.
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