Spring Cakes

It’s the first day of spring, and Mama Cat, a buff-colored medium-haired feline with pink fur around her muzzle, is baking her magical spring cakes. Her three kittens—Nutmeg, a sooty-colored shorthair; Cinnamon, an orange piebald with eye patch markings and medium hair; and Ginger, a dark orange longhair—each dressed in a cozy sweater and brown boots, are excited to finally be “old enough to help.” First, they must find the special ingredients, including silver honey (“The bees use pollen from magical flowers. The flowers only bloom in the winter”), blue chicken eggs, and “magical roses from the witch’s garden.” Together, the feline siblings visit various anthropomorphic creatures, collecting each enchanted cake component while encountering friendliness along the way. Washed jewel tones and rounded animation-style illustrations keep the magic alive in this sweet story, while Harmon’s accessible prose and chronological art set a solid framework for beginning graphic novel readers. Ages 4–8. ([em]Apr.) [/em]