Tina Matthews is both the writer and illustrator of this fabulous children’s book, A Great Cake. Matthew has demonstrated that she has a keen eye and talent for both. There are normally three categories for children’s picture books when it comes to the same illustrator and author, these being that they are great at both, they are great at writing but not illustrating or they are great at illustrating but not writing. Matthews certainly comes under the first of those three categories.

Tina Matthews has been very successful in the children’s literature arena, and has previously won awards for her other books. She grew up in New Zealand but is now currently residing in Sydney with her family. Some of her previous works include Out Of The Egg and Waiting for Later, both have received high accolades. I think A Great Cake has the potential to go far as well.

Children will be drawn to this book by its strange looking illustrations. I thought to myself as I first read it, that the illustrations were a little weird and I was wondering how she created such a cool, textured looking, illustration. It turns out that she uses a method called wood-cut die printing, which she uses in her other books. This technique for illustrating catches the eye, even on the front cover, it is different from any other picture book I have seen and it draws your attention in, wondering what the rest of the book will be like. Only a few pages in the book are white, and even then it isn’t very much. This creates an exciting book in which the colours and illustrations stand out for the children. Also on some of the pages there are three images on one side which coincide with what the words are saying. It is like instructions with pictures and this can be an exciting aspect for younger children, it gives some sort of structure to the story and pictures.

The story is basic and simple, but that is all that is needed with such fabulous illustrations, as half the time, they are telling the story. The repetition of ‘Let’s bake a cake’ becomes familiar throughout the story and is great for young children who love the idea of repetition and feel comforted by what repetition offers. It is a good technique used by Matthews to make her book, even better. Another aspect which I think will be appreciated by parents and loved by children is that there is a recipe at the end of the book. The recipe is how to make a cake. This activity prolongs the story for the children and it encourages them to also get their hands messy making a cake, just like the one Harvey got to make at the end of the book. Overall, it is a well illustrated and well written book, which is pleasing to the eye and has a way of making both parents and children happy. I would recommend it to anyone with young children.

Upon reading this book I felt a certain amount of happiness flow through me. As I was reading this it evoked memories from my childhood and how I used to make stews with my little sister and we would put whatever we found into them. Parents and older readers, who are reading it to children, will probably find that similar emotions and memories are evoked and you are reminiscing of your own childhood. I think this book will stand the test of time and will last for a very long time. And perhaps the children who it is being read to today will one day read it to their kids and it will evoke the same feelings and memories that it had when they were children.

A Great Cake comes out in store this October and the RRP is only $24.95, so I suggest and highly recommend this book to anyone with little children, as both the parent and the child are going to have an enjoyable experience reading the book.

-Natasha