Book Review: Captain Cake- Meet the Candy Crew

I won't lie, I held off on taking any photo of this book until Lucy's birthday cake was done. I spent an entire day baking this, I'm getting every photo op out of it as I can. Let that cake work for me. Ha! In all seriousness, I don't review very many children's books lately so I'm always happy to pick one up when I get the chance. 

Captain Cake: Meet the Candy Crew

General Rock needs a crew for his new spaceship, The Sweet Candy. He calls upon Captain Cake, Lieutenant Chocolate, Sergeant Jelly and Private Potato to team up and venture where no sweet has gone before. Will the Candy Crew know how to work together?

I'll start by telling you this is 96 pages, and while that sounds daunting for a children's book, don't panic! Each page has no more than 3 sentences, if that, so it's a rather quick read. It's no longer than reading a Dr. Seuss book, which we all know that while good, are the worst to read at bedtime. In fact, I've banned them. That is a mid-day read, kids. Mid-day. 

I read this with Penelope and Lucy (though Penelope was actually able to read most of this herself and she is at a first grade reading level and can sound out most words) and they really enjoyed it. I heard many times that they don't like pickles (Commander Pickle is in here) so I had to explain we're not eating him. The other favorite character was Lieutenant Chocolate because he's a rational, logical thinker, and it's how we're teaching Pep and Lu to handle problems (instead of flying off the handle), so that was great. There was a part where he had to get to his bed in the dark or something, always an issue with Lucy, though her trek to the bathroom and back isn't very long. They felt bad for Sweet Potato because she's the pilot of the ship and doesn't have any super powers, so I liked the concept of maybe you aren't exceptional at anything, you're still important to those around you. Oh- and there was Jelly, who could shoot jelly through her hands, but she ends up using a different super power in the book. The girls were really hung up on that, how she just switched powers/gained a new one/they couldn't agree on anything. Throughout the book it asks comprehension and engagement questions to keep readers paying attention, which makes this a perfect classroom read. I love when a book can be used at home and/or in a classroom, especially now when a lot of families are choosing to homeschool or go with a hybrid option, finding good books to cover topics like emotional and self regulation is key. 

Overall? This was a cute book. Even if you didn't want to read it start to finish, it does have chapters, perfect if you need to take a break. The illustrations are really nice, felt more like a comic book vibe and the girls thought they were nice. My six and five year old each gave it two thumbs up, so that probably has more weight than my opinion, right? 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review! If you're looking to add to your collection, this might be a good fit for your family OR classroom. 

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