KLONDIKE, DO NOT EAT THOSE CUPCAKES!

Can Klondike the seal resist eating his little sister’s cupcakes before her birthday party?

Alas, he cannot. But before the story arrives at this moment of crisis, Klondike tries mightily to fight temptation. Humorous second-person narration addresses him in a one-sided conversation, with directives, admonitions, and commentary on his willful disregard of Bruiser the guard dog and a polar bear magician who are brought in to deter and distract him. Imagining that the cupcakes are “squid sandwiches…Or tubeworm tacos…Or curried crabs” fails to disgust the unclothed yet anthropomorphized seal, who finally gobbles up the pink, frosted cupcakes, much to his sister’s dismay and his mother’s anger. But! Klondike makes things right by whipping up a new batch just in time for the party, including another serving for himself. Readers will find a recipe for chocolate-chip cupcakes in the backmatter and are sure to enjoy the depicted antics of gluttonous Klondike in Driscoll’s illustrations, which emphasize comic visual characterization.

A picture-book treat.