Kim Hyo-eun and Deborah Smith (translation), How We Share Cake, Scribe Publications, October 2024, 52 pp., ISBN 9781761380655
How We Share Cake is a humorous picture book about a family of five kids who compete with each other in sharing the family’s limited resources. Favourite food needs to be measured out fairly, toy use shared by allotting time and position in the bathroom or at the dining table must be negotiated. Having a larger share isn’t always an advantage, as in sharing cleaning tasks or the broccoli. The story implies that despite having a paucity of possessions, the children in this large, lively family have plenty of love and companionship and many opportunities to learn important social skills of collaboration and co-operation.
Award winning Korean author illustrator, Hyo-eun, has created a light-hearted, succinct story about large family dynamics, with subtle, but pertinent and relatable themes of sharing, co-operation, resolving disagreements and companionship.
The illustrations support the story well with objects and family members drawn in basic shapes outlined in black, against a white background. The amusing cartoon style drawings of the family expertly convey the light-hearted tone of the story whilst also portraying the family’s interactions and emotional responses through a range of facial expressions and body postures. There are few objects in the background, implying the sparseness of family possessions. Splashes of colour and playful use of interesting patterns imply the physical setting and also brighten the otherwise basic looking drawings.
The fabulous endpapers of scattered family photos and a lounge room / bedroom setting, deserve a special mention too.
Diagrams of how food is split between the 5 kids could also be useful for explaining early concepts of fractions.
I recommend How We Share Cake for 3-7 year olds as a discussion starter on topics of sharing, co-operation, managing conflict and gratitude for what we have.
Reviewed by Barbara Swartz