ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Cupcake's friend Eggplant is going to Turkey to visit family, and he has invited Cupcake along to meet the famous baker Turkish Delight. Cupcake works hard to earn the money for the trip, but when a problem comes up, he has to decide if friendship is more important than meeting his hero. Varon, creator of Robot Dreams (2007), has crafted another beautiful homage to friendship. The story is simple, but Varon's inspired setting alternate New York City where all the residents are food products ings it to rich, bustling, poignant life. Readers will feel like they are walking through a cleaner, more pastel version of the city and will want to linger over the small details that highlight each panel. Recipes are included for the items Cupcake makes to earn money for his trip. As always, Varon's work is appropriate for children but will appeal to anyone of any age who has ever loved a friend.

Horn Book

In this graphic novel, Cupcake (a cupcake with a round pink head and cherry on top) has a bakery in New York City, a friend named Eggplant (a big purple eggplant), and a dream of meeting his idol, pastry chef Turkish Delight. When business is slow, Eggplant helps Cupcake expand his offerings. Readers will eat up Varon's cleanly illustrated, nicely detailed tale of friendship.

Kirkus Reviews

Varon returns with another strange and charming graphic work that touches on the theme of her terrific Robot Dreams (2007), namely: how fine friendship can be, and how surely it leads you down a twisty road of joys and melancholy. Here the main characters are Cupcake, a cupcake, and Eggplant, an eggplant (this is a world of animated foodstuffs). Cupcake runs a bakery and plays in a band with Eggplant. Eggplant has plans to travel to Turkey to see his family and, to Cupcake's envy, meet Turkish Delight, the world-renowned master of confections. Cupcake pulls double shifts at bake sales to save up enough drachmas to go along with Eggplant—losing his place in the band when an angry avocado takes on a new potato because Cupcake is too distracted—but then hands over the cash when Eggplant loses his job and his funding falls through. Varon loads the tale with all manner of idiosyncratic touches—a slice of bacon knocks the cherry off Cupcake's head, which is replaced by a blueberry; a great scene in a Turkish bath finds Cupcake's wrapper peeling—which gives a soft, unpredictable feel to the proceedings. The colors are lovely, low-key renderings, and the format has a decided two-dimensionality. An offbeat story about the sacrifices made for friends, about the very everydayness of such acts and the pitfalls and pleasures in their wake. (Picture book. 6 & up)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In a world of anthropomorphized food, Cupcake is a pink cupcake who runs his own bakery and idolizes the culinary work of Turkish Delight, a famous foreign chef. Cupcake's best friend, Eggplant, has a way for Cupcake to meet his idol, but first Cupcake must spend extra time earning enough money for the plane trip to Turkey. Cupcake has to drop out of the band he enjoys and go the extra mile to sell as many baked goods as he can. Much of the book shows Cupcake's hard work, which doesn't actually get him anywhere in the end because he gives his money to Eggplant-who has lost his job-instead. This seems to be showing that it's good to help others, and not to idolize when one can believe in oneself. However, it does make the ending feel a tad anticlimactic and as if nothing has been solved, since it seems that Cupcake has worked hard and pushed himself for nothing. Altogether the book has a mellow, easygoing feel, using soft colors and showing many yummy foods. As an added bonus, recipes for how to make the various scrumptious meals readers watch Cupcake prepare are provided. As in her previous Robot Dreams, Varon's art is simple and cozy, making this sweet tale a confection of its own. Ages 9-12. (Aug.)

School Library Journal (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Gr 2-6 Cupcake, a cupcake that owns a bakery in Brooklyn, is in a band with his best friend, an eggplant. When he finds out that Eggplant is going to be seeing Cupcake's idol, the pastry chef Turkish Delight, in Istanbul, he tries a series of new projects and ways to sell baked goods in order to buy a plane ticket to join him. His efforts reinvigorate his excitement for creative baking, but they keep him from playing in the band. It's difficult to guess what readers will think of a book that both stars foodstuffs and yet is about the consumption of food. Cupcake doesn't seem at all conflicted about being friends with an anthropomorphic carrot while also chopping one up to make carrot cake, but some kids might find it confusing and distracting. The book is filled with details, labels, and readable actions, which makes it nicely interactive. The friendship between Cupcake and Eggplant is interestingly complex, with a great dream sequence spelling some of it out. Gentle, domestic, and with a plethora of particulars and seven recipes at the back that are featured in the story line, this book has a will-o'-the-wisp charm and a distinctive, quirky voice. Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH High School