cover image It's My Birthday

It's My Birthday

Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick Press (MA), $3.99 (24pp) ISBN 978-1-56402-602-6

One by one a host of animals offer ingredients when a child decides to bake a birthday cake. PW called the story ""perfectly paced"" and said that the ""understated"" watercolors ""shine with the quiet resplendence of happy family life."" Ages 2-up. (Feb.)