Ella and Olivia: Cupcake Catastrophe, and Ella and Olivia: Best Friend Showdown by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald

Ella and Olivia are sisters.
Ella is seven years old.
Olivia is five-and-a-half years old. They live with their mum and dad and little brother Max.
Ella is busy baking. She is wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon.
A packet of flour is open.

Ella and Olivia are sisters.

Ella is seven years old.

Olivia is five-and-a-half years old. They live with their mum and dad and little brother Max.

Ella is busy baking. She is wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon.

A packet of flour is open.

Ella and Olivia are making cakes for Dad’s birthday. They want these cupcakes to be a delicious surprise for Dad when they have his birthday afternoon tea celebration. They gather all the ingredients, Olivia acting as assistant to the older Ella. Then there’s the mixing, the dividing of the mixture into patty papers, cooking, cooling then icing. Each step has the girls working together with Mum’s help as necessary. Finally it’s time to get ready, time for afternoon tea. Perfect.

Best friends Ella and Zoe like the same things and often play at each other’s houses. Zoe thinks Olivia is cute, and Ella loves Zoe’s cat. And they are both very excited when their teacher announces a chocolate drive to raise money and there’s to be a reward for the student who sells the most. Ella and Zoe usually like to do everything together, but they both also want to sell the most chocolates. The competition threatens to undermine their friendship. But unexpected help arrives to set them back on track.

 

Ella and Olivia is a new series from Scholastic for new readers. They are perfect for newly confident readers making the transition from fully-illustrated texts.  The text is large and sentences and chapters short. There are black and white illustrations on each opening and a decorative border to each page. These are realistic stories with age-appropriate dilemmas. Like other early reader options, they are likely to be shared among some young girls, and collected by others. Recommended for early primary readers.

Cupcake catastrophe (Ella and Olivia)

Ella and Olivia: Cupcake Catastrophe by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald Scholastic Australia 2012 ISBN: 9781742833545

Best Friend Showdown (Ella and Olivia)

Ella and Olivia: Best Friend Showdown by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald Scholastic Australia 2012 ISBN: 9781742833552

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com