Hugless Douglas is a bestselling series penned by UK author-illustrator David Melling. Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake is the seventh adventure starring the big brown, huggable, lovable bear. It was our first time reading a book in this series, and I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us!
Douglas sets out to track his missing honey down, he’s hungry and believes he can’t eat any of his food without honey on top. He tracks down the sheep who have collected his honey to bake honey cakes, and quickly agrees to help them with the task. A flurry of exciting baking activities follows, but despite his hungry tummy Douglas still refuses to snack on the ingredients without honey while they wait for the oven. Soon he’s forced to give it a go, and realises that it’s quite nice, even without the honey on top!
The book is beautifully illustrated with vibrantly coloured characters and scenes that really help to bring the story to life. My kiddies were both sitting on my lap while we were reading, and they could not stop giggling at the pictures. My one year old in particular seemed quite taken with Douglas himself and at one point he even leaned in to give the big ol’ bear a kiss!
Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake is a wonderful story to share with your children, discussing the very real challenges of fussy eaters in a fun way. I loved that although my one year old didn’t understand the meaning of the story, he could still listen to it while being captivated by the entertaining illustrations. It’s hard to find books that appeal to two different age groups, but this one seems to do just that, and I can’t wait to check out more titles in this series soon!
Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake is available in hardcover from bookstores and online retailers at a recommended retail price of R280.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan for bringing our family into the world of Hugless Douglas.
2 Comments
Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake sounds and looks like something Deanna would enjoy.
It is very important to have bright pictures in story books especially for little ones.
Before my daughter started reading herself, she would look at the pictures and tell me her whole made up story … it was good though … she has good imagination 🙂
Now she only really enjoys reading books with bright big pictures 🙂
I love how reading inspires children’s imaginations! Even before they can read themselves, they love to be creative and engage with the pictures like you say. It can be very entertaining to listen to the stories as told by your little ones!