Learning how to be patient can be a difficult skill to acquire -- as many parents of young children can attest! Recommended for ages 3-6, the new picturebook Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan with delightful watercolor illustrations by Stephane Jorisch, humorously portrays Betty Bunny's efforts to tame her desire for instant gratification and perfectly captures this battle of the will that so many of us (younger and older alike) struggle with!

Betty Bunny is a handful we learn right from the start. She also is the youngest of four siblings and their playfully teasing interactions are pitch-perfect. But their wise advice and witty comments do not help Betty Bunny have patience -- or control her temper. Denied the cake she so desperately craves because she was not willing to eat a healthy dinner first, Betty Bunny storms off to her room. At bedtime, her mother consoles her with the thought that her piece of cake is waiting for her in the refrigerator. Before Betty Bunny leaves for school the next day, she says goodbye to the cake, and ... puts it in her pocket!

Does Betty Bunny eat the cake at school? Does her mother teach her how to do her own laundry? Does Betty Bunny ever learn what it means to be patient? Well, I don't want to give away the delicious ending, you'll just have to be patient and find out for yourself! (Let me just say that the conclusion is as satisfying as a slice of chocolate cake!)