Love at First Bite: Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael B. Kaplan

BETTY BUNNY WAS A HANDFUL.

SHE KNEW SHE WAS A HANDFUL BECAUSE HER MOTHER ALWAYS SAID, "BETTY BUNNY, YOU ARE A HANDFUL!"

BETTY BUNNY KNEW HER MOTHER AND FATHER LOVED HER, SO BEING A HANDFUL MUST BE VERY, VERY GOOD!

For one thing, Betty is a very picky eater, and when, at the end of a healthy veggie dinner, Mom has a surprise for her family, Betty's response is predictable:

"WHO WANTS DESSERT? WE HAVE CHOCOLATE CAKE!"

"I HATE CHOCOLATE CAKE!" BETTY ANNOUNCED.

"CHOCOLATE CAKE IS YUCKY! WHAT'S CHOCOLATE CAKE?"

But when her family urges her to try just one forkful, it's truly love at first bite for Betty.

"I'M GOING TO MARRY CHOCOLATE CAKE!" SHE PROCLAIMS.

"WHATEVER." SAID HER BROTHER BILL, WEARILY. "BUT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME REALLY WEIRD-LOOKING KIDS."

But Betty is not deterred from her love affair with chocolate cake. She goes from being a picky eater to being a very selective eater, insisting upon nothing BUT chocolate cake.

Of course, her mother and father nix that plan, insisting that she must eat her healthy meals first, but Betty has a few work-arounds for that policy. She sneaks a slice and stuffs the leftover piece of cake into her sweater pocket on the way to school and winds up with a pocketful of chocolate goop. Mom counsels patience for her pesky daughter, but there's many a slip between cake and lip before Betty the Handful becomes a Betty the Sensible Eater, deferring chocolate gratification until after dinner.

Michael Kaplan's clever text will have older, wiser eaters snickering at his Betty all the way through his right-on picture of a picky eater, Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake (Dial, 2011). Stephane Jorisch's frisky pencil and digitally colored illustrations capture Betty Bunny's persnickety but perseverant personality perfectly, and together author and illustrator have a real winner for picture book people.

A potential side effect of this book is a sudden craving for--yes, chocolate cake! Bon appetit!~ (But eat your carrots first!)