Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Esperança Melo
Tundra Books
ISBN: 978-1770493964
Published March 12, 2013
Hardcover, 32 pages
Ages 3-7

My son and I think this is such an adorable book! Dog lovers will love the serious butler-like Mr. Dash. And, of course, cupcake lovers will smile and smack their lips.

Mr. Dash lives with Madame Croissant who has a secret cupcake recipe. When she starts her own cupcake company named Cupcakes à Go-Go, she makes Mr. Dash her delivery dog. Now Mr. Dash is a well-mannered dog who thinks he looks foolish wearing a baker's hat and carrying boxes in his mouth. But then Madame Croissant's niece Daphne arrives and things liven up quite a bit. It's a good thing Mr. Dash is there to save the day from a calamity!

Madame Croissant is a lively character with her sing-song voice and French words. My son liked this because he can read French. Mr. Dash is a funny character because of his expressions and serious demeanor. He was the perfect contrast to Madame Croissant and her rambunctious niece. For anyone who has baked with kids, the dough-splattered scenes in this book will be familiar.

My son and I both loved the illustrations which captured the story and the characters perfectly. They are bright and lively. We loved how the illustrator brought to life the expressions of the characters, especially Mr. Dash. This is a fun book. It is a heartwarming glimpse of a dog's faithfulness and usefulness, even when it comes to cupcakes.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

Reviewed by Laura & Son

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher for sending us this book for review. We were not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.