Review of The Perfect Birthday Recipe by Katy Hudson

Summer birthdays can be lonely, but not when you have great friends like Beavers! This year Tortoise, Bird, Rabbit, and Squirrel insist on baking Beaver’s birthday cake, but Beaver isn’t so sure. He is the ultimate perfectionist and would rather do it himself, following the recipe exactly. Will Beaver’s nitpicky ways ruin his birthday and his friendships? The Perfect Birthday Recipe is the fourth and final story in Katy Hudson's best-selling set of seasonal picture books, including Too Many Carrots, A Loud Winter's Nap, and The Golden Acorn.

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**My thoughts**
Beaver is very particular about how he does things, because he wants them to be done right. It is hard for a perfectionist to let go of control! And especially with his birthday coming up, he knows exactly what he wants and how he is going to do it. But then his friends want to help him make this perfect birthday cake, because they don't think he'll have time to do it all by himself. And of course, they want to do something nice for him on his birthday.

And of course everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Beaver's friends ignore his recipe or do not pay close enough attention to it. So his perfect cake is an absolute disaster. But to his friends, it is a job well done and they are so proud of themselves. Naturally, Beaver is upset and blows up at his friends. He does the cake over again, only now he has no one with whom to enjoy it. His friends hear his cries and give him a birthday party the next day. It is not what he had originally planned, but finds that it is actually more perfect than he had anticipated it could be.

So Beaver learns a lesson about letting go. I think adults reading this book could definitely benefit from having this lesson reiterated to them. We definitely have difficulty letting go of our own ideas of perfection, especially when others are involved. I know it's a lesson I have been working on learning my entire adult life. 

I think kids will enjoy this story and can also start to learn a lesson about letting go and looking at the point of view of others. It could make for a good discussion launch pad. 

I do love the illustrations in this. The expressions on Beaver's face are priceless. You really get a feel for the personalities of the different characters. They're a lot of fun.

I give this book 4.5 stars. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.