Terry Border

I would rate this book at 5 stars for the illustrations -- seriously, they're worthy of Caldecott consideration -- and 3 stars for the story, which uses clumsy repetition that I didn't particularly care for. Hence the 4-star rating. I would recommend that folks take a look in a bookstore, and buy if the text works OK for you.

Heck, even though I don't like the text as well as I wanted, I may go back and buy it -- the illustrations are that good.

Peanut Butter & Cupcake is such a clever book for children in preschool up to second grade. The title is what caught my attention, but one should not be fooled by the title because the character Cupcake has a very minimal role in the story. The theme of this book is about friendship. Peanut Butter is new to the town and just wants someone to be his friend and play with him, but it seems like the rest of the characters are too busy or just plain mean, that is until Jelly walks up to Peanut show more Butter and says that she will be his friend. Once everyone sees how much fun they are having together playing soccer, they all want to join in. The message here is that you should never be too busy for someone who wants to be your friend because they may just end up being someone you really like.

I absolutely loved the realistic qualities of each character. The photographs of the peanut butter on bread, the hamburger, the hot dogs, the cupcake, the egg, the meatball, the fries and the soup were so clear and realistic that you could almost pick up the food and eat it off the page. I liked how the author brought these characters to life by giving them arms and legs made of wire; this way they could do activities like jump rope, walk the dogs, and play soccer. The thing I like most about his book is how much it makes kids laugh when I read it aloud. There is a rhyming chorus in this book that is repeated every time Peanut Butter tries to make a new friend. He says, “Hello, I’m new here, and I’d like to play. Maybe now, maybe later – or even all day. I’ll make you chuckle deep down in your belly. And we’ll go together like Peanut Butter and . . . French Fries!” Kids love this because they obviously know that that this pairing of the two foods do not fit correctly. The text/ storyline is very well paced and as it follows Peanut Butter’s travels from meeting one character to the next. Even though the story itself is humorous, it would not be the same without the realistic characters and the uniquely designed setting. show less

Peanut Butter and Cupcake is the story of Peanut Butter who is looking for a playmate to play ball with. He asks everyone he meets if they'll play with him, but no one agrees until he runs into Jelly. The pictures in this book are done as actually photos of food pieces, like cupcakes, hamburgers, bowls of soup, etc. all propped up and positioned as if they were playing and talking with wire hands and feet to provide a little more gesture to them. This is such a creative scheme that I love so show more much. The theme of finding your perfect friend, the Peanut Butter to your Jelly, is really sweet, especially as everyone comes together to play a game of ball at the end even after rejecting Peanut Butter initially. It's also really fun to read aloud with kids as the language is very repetitive and after Peanut Butter asks to play, they can all yell out the name of the food that he is asking. Even better is when they yell out, "Jelly!" and you as the teacher get to correct them and say, "cupcake" instead, prompting all of the kids to giggle. show less

This book is about Peanut Butter who moves into a new town and wants to make new friends. Peanut Butter goes on a journey to find new friends and on the way finds a variety of foods who are too busy to be his friend. In the end Peanut Butter finds Jelly and they became friends. All of the other foods then also want to play with Peanut Butter and Jelly. I really liked this book because it was a really fun way to show friendship. I also really liked this book because it had a lot of humor for show more the reader to pick up on throughout out book. When Peanut Butter meets Hamburger he says, "I'm sorry." said Hamburger, "but I'm busy walking the dogs. Thanks for asking, though." This is funny because Hamburger is walking two hotdogs on leashes. When Peanut Butter meets Egg he says, "Peanut Butter and Egg? That's funny. You're cracking me up!" Egg laughed." When Peanut Butter met French Fries he said, "Not right now," said French Fries. "I just remembered I'm supposed to help hamburger with his hot dogs, and I need to catch up!" This is funny because people usually use ketchup (catch up) when eating French Fries. Those are a few examples of the humor within the book. I also really liked the illustrations in the book. The illustrations are photographs of the real objects. I really liked this because this makes it very realistic and it is unlike other picture books. The language in the book is descriptive and patterned. There is the same phrase used throughout the entire book. Peanut Butter says to every food he meets, "Hello, I'm new here, and I'd like to play. Maybe now, maybe later--or even all day. I'll make you chuckle deep down in your belly. And we'll go together like Peanut Butter and..." I really liked this because it was a pattern the reader can catch on to while reading. I thought the writing was engaging and paced well. I also thought the characters were fun and different. "As his new friends knocked the ball around with their feet and their heads and, in one case, his buns, Peanut Butter chuckled deep down in his belly because they all went together like Peanut Butter and Hamburger and Cupcake and Egg and Meatball and French Fries and Soup and...Jelly." I really liked the ending of this book because it was a happy ending. Peanut Butter had a problem, conflict, and solution in the book. The main idea of the story is friendship, fun, and food. show less