Happy Pudding - (What's Cooking, Arlo?) by Kimberly Gee (Hardcover)

About the Book

After a long storm Arlo invites his friends over to his house for a meal and makes his happy pudding to cheer them all up.

Book Synopsis

After a long storm, Arlo is excited to invite his friends over for a little get-together. But Alice, Slide, and Spike are each feeling out of sorts after being cooped up too long. Will Arlo's happy pudding cheer them up? Find out in this early graphic novel that will warm young readers' hearts with a perfect recipe for friendship and fun.

Review Quotes

Arlo (a rhino) and friends Alice (a hippo), Slide (a worm), and Spike (a hedgehog) live in Yummy Valley. One sunny day, Arlo invites everyone to a get-together to celebrate the end of a rainstorm. Alice agrees to bring the bread; Slide, a happy song; and Spike, some berries. They create Happy Pudding (baked in Arlo's anthropomorphic stove, Cooky) and enjoy being together. Gee's graphic reader successfully combines welcoming artwork with an engaging narrative. The characters are soft, rounded figures outlined in black that exude a friendly vibe, and the use of pastel hues adds to the genial atmosphere, as do the smiling faces affixed to inanimate objects, such as the sun and a mud puddle. Emerging readers will appreciate the short chapters and brief text (delivered in speech balloons), although vocabulary is not strictly controlled. Varied panel sizes, stylized figures, and visual shapes that signal sounds add to the inviting presentation. Appended with a recipe for Happy Pudding, this sweet offering is part of the new, four-book series What's Cooking, Arlo?--Kay Weisman "Booklist"