How We Share Cake

In a family of five siblings, this book’s narrator—the second-oldest—describes how “we can split anything.” Divvying things up is easy when it comes to broccoli (“Hey, you first” one child offers), more difficult with cotton candy (“Hey, me first”), and sometimes requires savvy, as when each place at the table yields a slightly different portion. The siblings, cued as Korean, share “all kinds of things”: a bathroom, hand-me-down wellies, and the breeze from a lone fan at night. But when the narrator tumbles while riding the family scooter, she experiences a handful of precious solo experiences that lead to a moment of collective sibling empathy—and a slice of a cake that’s clearly for sharing. Kim employs pencil and watercolor textures in sweetly amusing spreads that show how a wealth of items are allotted, in this moving work about divisions and connections. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–9. (Oct.)