Julius's Candy Corn (Board book)

by Kevin Henkes (Author, Illustrator) "Julius was ready for the Halloween party..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Julius's mother has baked cupcakes with candy corns on top for his Halloween party. As he admires them, she informs him that he can't eat them until the guests arrive. "So Julius started counting instead. `One candy corn,' said Julius." The illustrations show the little white mouse eating the candy-not the cupcakes-until he has "counted" them all. Just as he finishes consuming the last of them, the doorbell rings, and the party begins. One to four lines of short text on lilac, lime green, sunshine yellow, sugary pink, or candy-corn orange backgrounds face simple illustrations on all-white backgrounds. The cupcakes are arranged in a straight line on a tabletop in each picture, enabling young listeners to help count the cupcakes (and candy corns) along with Julius. This is a gem of a story; it's short and sweet and perfect for toddler and preschool storytimes.
Olga R. Kuharets, Broward County Libraries, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Reviewed with Kevin Henkes' Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star .

PreS. Food is at the forefront of these board books featuring two of Henkes' signature characters, the worried Wemberly and "baby of the world" Julius. Julius has been told not to eat the 10 cupcakes for the Halloween party. Instead, he starts counting the candy corn on the top of each treat--counting by popping each morsel of corn in his mouth. Wemberly, on the other hand, is so worried that her ice cream bar will drip on her dress (or that there won't be enough for Petal, her stuffie) that she and Petal finally wind up eating ice-cream soup. The text is very short; the drama is in the art, one image to each candy-colored page. The youngest of Henkes' fans might not understand all the nuances (yes, nuances) of these vignettes. But kids who love the characters will welcome a new glimpse of them, and Julius' story could be used with a small group of toddlers for a Halloween story hour. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Board book: 24 pages
• Publisher: HarperFestival (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060537892
• ISBN-13: 978-0060537890
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #599,773 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FUNNY, August 27, 2003

By A Customer

My children love Kevin Henkes's books. This is a funny story about Julius and how he counts cupcakes and eats all the candy corn. Sweet but not sticky.

5.0 out of 5 stars Candy Corn Caper!, April 6, 2006

By	N. Schweitzer (Denver) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once again Kevin Henkes has written a book to tickle a toddler's funny bone! Any child can surely relate to the temptation of a tasty treat that can be looked at but not touched, and Julius' solution is surprising yet clever. Yes he was a bit naughty, but he really DIDN'T disobey his mum and no harm was done. Any parent who has had a sweet yet mischievous child will appreciate this book and little ones will love the story and pictures. Who can resist cupcakes and a party?

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why was this book written?, March 10, 2004

By	Miss Tresninos "mistresninos" (SoCal) - See all my reviews

There seems no point to this book's existence. I know it is only a book for toddlers but shouldn't we respect their ability to comprehend and learn, however small we may think it is?

In this book, Julius' mother tells him not to eat the cupcakes. Great! So he thinks he'll count the candy corn. Well, after counting to one, there are no more numbers. So you can't really call it a counting book.

Aside from "counting" the candy corn, Julius eats all the candy corn. This is later justified by inferring, "At least he didn't eat the cupcakes." There is no retribution for his eating the candy corn. None of his friends are disappointed that they do not get a candy corn on their cupcake. His mother does not scold him for his malfeasance. So you can't really call it a morality tale.

Education and morality are pretty much the cornerstone of any good children's book. Therefore my conclusion that there is no purpose to this book.

But it may be encouraging to those who would like to get into children's publishing to know that even this sort of dribble is considered publishable.

I am a bibliophile, but this book is getting tossed.