The Lion's Share: A Tale of Halving Cake and Eating It, Too

In this iconographic-animated adaptation, the teaching aspects of Matthew McElligott's 2009 picture book of manners and math come to life in a lively and engaging way. When Lion throws himself a birthday party, tiny Ant is horrified at the outrageous and inconsiderate behavior of Hippo, Gorilla, Warthog, Turtle, and others. When it comes to the cake, each takes half, then half of what's left, on down the line, demonstrating very bad manners but excellent division skills. By the time the dessert gets to Ant, only crumbs are left, and Lion hasn't had any! Ant volunteers to bake a replacement for Lion, and not to be outdone, the other guests also promise to come up with their own luscious varieties (double chocolate, spice, apple walnut, and so on)—each one offering to make twice as many cakes as the previous animal (the numbers mount up pretty fast, to a total of 256!). McElligott's art nicely captures the frosting colors and geometric shapes of all those goodies. DVD extras include a bonus conversation with the author. Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (G.A. DeCandido)